Siderite
by Jaggarte x
Summary: A collection of one shots featuring Hyuuga Hinata. Also, crackety crack crack warning, there are ALL kinds of pairings within. 1st chapter summary has all the information you could want. This chapter - Zetsu x Hinata written by Emerald-Elf 707 and not by me
1. Start Small

**Siderite**

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**Summary: This is my new series. Every chapter is going to be a one shot based on Hinata with someone else and each chapter will stand independantly so I'll make it appear as complete. There's going to be romance, tragedy, friendship, anger and...did I mention romance? I'll rate the whole series as T but I'll put up another rating in each summary for each chapter. So look forward to all the crackety crack crack that is soon to fill your delightful screens.**

**Also: For every chapter I will add a quote from a book, famous person, poem or song that I've written down in my years of living. I'll draw inspiration from this quote and the story will work with it but don't worry! Though almost all my quotes are western I will not go AU. Maybe one day but that day is not now.**

**Also Also: This fic _was_ dedicated to Ohioan0897 but because I suck, I wrote an Ino x Hinata friendship fic instead of the Naruto x Hinata I was asked to do. So Naruto x Hinata will come later I promise, for now, here is Ino!**

**Disclaimer: One day I will write crossovers and AU fics so it's only fair to assume, in my opinion anyway, that one day I will own Naruto as well. Alas that day is not today but do not fret lovely people, one day it will be mine! Mine! Mwahahahaha! *cough cough* Ok ok, I do not own Naruto. Happy?....geez, killjoys...**

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Start Small

**Ino x Hinata (K+)**

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter – to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further..."

– _The Great Gatsby, _F. Scott Fitzgerald

Here she was, _again._ It would seem to most that this piece of wood that she stood behind would be her favourite place to stand. She could clearly see without being seen and hear without being heard, also the fact that she always hid behind it would lend some the assumption that this was the place she most wanted to be. At the foot of the post, the dirt had been cleared into the very distinct form of feet and every time she saw him enter that ramen restaurant with his friends and sensei she would always place herself in the space cleared for her, by her. The wood on the post was marked from her scratching in hesitation and annoyance-crude symbols drawn in her long suffering silences while she was watching him.

But though it may _look _to some that the post was her refuge, friend and confidant, they'd be wrong. She _hated_ that post. She transferred all self recrimination and infuriation into it. In her mind, eager to pass on the blame, it was the post's fault that she couldn't be seen by him. The spaces at the foot of it held her feet and didn't allow her to go to him and the symbols marked gave her mind something to do instead of contemplating the thought of thinking of something to say and gathering the courage needed to approach him. She didn't want to be _here, _she wanted to be _there, _beside him.

Instead here she stood, behind the wretched thing, watching him again. She watched as his cerulean eyes danced in laughter at something his pink haired teammate had said to their sensei and sighed in abject silence. His attitude was as bright as ever and the dark haired watcher felt justified in her adoration of the blonde haired young man every time she saw him smile. Here was a man you could honour and love and follow.

So caught up in thoughts of the young shinobi, Hinata was not prepared for the loud crash that sounded behind her, making her whirl around and face the noise. The wooden fence near where Hinata was standing now lay in a heap of broken planks. Hearing footsteps, Hinata turned her head back around to the restaurant and was met by the curious gaze of her long time crush.

"Hi Hinata-chan, what are you up to?"

"Ano, good afternoon N-Naruto-kun," she managed to say, her fingers tightening in her jacket and her back pushing against the post in an attempt to pull herself together at the thought of his proximity, "I-I'm not sure what happened."

Thanking the stars that her voice had come out somewhat clear, Hinata watched as Naruto smiled at her and walked over to the pile of wood with a thoughtful expression while his sensei and two teammates came over to join them at a steady pace.

They all started running however when they heard a strangled voice call from underneath the wood.

The young kunoichi paled and quickly activated her bloodline limit to see where the noise had come from underneath all the wood and yelped when Kakashi roughly ran past her, jolting her slightly, when she pointed to where the person lay under the pile.

In a moment, the person was unveiled and helped to their feet by the energetic blonde and his sensei as the others simply watched, ready to go to action if needed. As soon as the person was upright and left to brush off the splinters by themselves without help, Hinata could finally see who it was.

"Ino," The pink haired kunoichi spoke as she moved next to the other girl, "Are you ok?"

Nodding, Ino brushed off her concerned friend's question and looked straight at Hinata as she replied.

"I was going to see Tsunade-sama and jumped on a rotted piece of wood," her eyes brooked no argument as she straightened her back and started to walk towards the heiress, "Hinata-chan, help me walk to the Hokage tower."

The Hyuuga looked almost affronted. Leave her post? But one look at Naruto made her mind up, she couldn't stay where she was, he now knew that she was near and would be aware of her. Sighing and looking to the ground, Hinata nodded her head once and looked up again sharply as she felt her arm being grabbed and pulled along.

"Wait Ino!" Shouted Sakura, "I should check you, make sure you're ok!"

Ino ignored her and Hinata simply gave Sakura a faint apologetic smile as she was dragged away by an obviously irate blonde. Kakashi and Sai simply stood there seemingly disinterested in the goings on around them and Naruto simply waved jovially goodbye to Hinata and Ino with a large smile on his handsome face.

Sakura was obviously angry at being ignored and could be seen waving her fists around as Hinata rounded the corner with Ino.

"Ah, Ino-chan," The heiress was a bit concerned as they were slowly approaching the training grounds, not the Hokage tower, "Tsunade-sama's office is the other way."

"I know."

When no other explanation was given, Hinata tried to understand her situation.

"Then where are we going?"

"I need to talk to you."

Looking around, the long haired young woman spotted a large tree and proceeded to drag her young friend with her. Stopping underneath it she released her hold on the kunoichi and sat down patting the ground next to her.

Hinata, ever obedient, sat down next to her forceful friend. Ino looked at the Hyuuga and decided that being subtle wasn't going to work.

"We all know you like Naruto-kun Hinata-chan."

The words were shot out and a red blush raged across the poor girl's face as she tried to recover from her shock and tried to speak.

"D-d-does h-h-he-"

"No, Naruto-kun doesn't know, idiot that he is."

The heiress breathed a sigh of relief but still felt a fool as she realised how she might have looked to all her comrades and friends.

"Look," Ino turned to face the dark haired woman, "You need to do something about it. Standing and watching from afar isn't going to do anything."

Hinata fought the urge to faint. They all really _did_ know. This could not get any more embarrassing.

While the young woman hid her head in her hands at the implications this realisation gave her, her friend sitting beside her shifted a bit next to her. Looking down at her shy friend, the blonde's irritated expression softened and she smiled slightly as nudged her with her knee.

"It's ok Hinata-chan," She said, trying to make her friend look up, "We've all known for a while. It's actually the reason I want to talk to you."

The young woman looked up into the eyes of her outgoing friend in confusion. Ino waved her hand in the air, stopping any questions that she might ask.

"You need to do something about this Hinata," she shrugged her shoulders, "I'm here to help you."

"Why?"

Ino seemed offended and raised her eyebrow. "Why? Because you're my friend."

A smiled spread all along Hinata's face and she fought the urge to hug the blonde. "Arigatou Ino-chan."

Ino laughed, "You don't thank someone for being your friend Hinata-chan, they just, well, _are_."

"Anyway," The blonde started talking again, dispelling the silence that fought to take over, "that's not what we need to discuss, we need to talk strategy."

The pale eyed woman shook her head in abjuration, "I can't Ino-chan, you _know_ I can't."

Sighing the heiress went to stand up but was pulled back down by an annoyed kunoichi, "Did I say we were finished? There's such a thing as advice you know and that's what I plan on giving you."

"Ano, but-"

"No 'but's', look, you need to tell him."

Hinata looked at the kunoichi beside her in frustration, "You know I can't do that Ino-chan, everyone should know that I can't do that."

"Then you start small."

The Hyuuga looked confused.

Ino watched her friend's face intently and decided she needed to spell it out for her.

"Hinata-chan, if you're having trouble telling Naruto-kun how you feel than you need to start small. Don't go for the dramatic flourish of admitting that you stalk him-" The girl put her fist under her chin and thought for a moment, "Actually, don't tell him that at all, that wouldn't look too good.

Hinata nodded.

" Instead start with sitting near him when he goes to eat ramen and then the next day, sit beside him and then the next ask for the condiments and then the next, ask how his day is and then BAM!" She clapped her hands forcefully and the young girl beside her jumped in fright, "You're married with five kids with Kakashi and Jiraiya as god parents."

The blonde moved her long hair out of her eye and looked sceptically at her friend, "You sure you want this, I mean, Jiraiya and Kakashi...?"

Hinata looked to the ground and plucked some leaves of grass before answering the kunoichi, "Ino-chan, I love Naruto-kun with everything I have," She looked up with a smile, "There's not much I wouldn't put up with to be with him."

"Ok then, so have you got that? Start small."

"Yeah," The dark haired girl brushed the grass off her pants and stood up, "If I take small steps towards the ever elusive 'tomorrow' then maybe it'll finally come." She looked down at the other girl and smiled brightly, "Thank you Ino-chan, I'll give it a go."

The girl stood up next to her friend and put an arm over her shoulder, "Well I don't know about 'elusive tomorrows' but I do think you need to start today," She gripped Hinata's shoulder and spun her around to face the other direction and pointed down the hill with her other hand, "Especially since I can see him and he seems to be waving to you."

Enjoying the bright blush gracing her friend's face, Ino watched as the young woman said goodbye and walked down and started to talk to the hyperactive shinobi, asking him to ramen for the next day.

When her charge had disappeared from sight with an ever hungry Naruto (firmly convinced that tomorrow could wait and that he was hungry now even though he'd already eaten), Ino turned around to face a smiling Sakura.

"That was really nice Ino-chan, I hope it works out for her," The pink haired girl looked up and down at the slightly dirty kunoichi, "But you didn't have to make such a dramatic entrance."

"How was I supposed to know that the wood was rotten and could so easily cave under my slight weight?"

"Yeah sure," Sakura slyly grinned, "_slight _weight. Are you sure it wasn't all those Korean barbeque restaurants your team goes to Ino-_pig_?"

"You are so dead"

"Try and catch me"

And the girls sped off, Sakura laughing and Ino fuming behind her before falling into giggles herself when Sakura fell over into a puddle of mud.

Hinata watched them run past at the ramen stand, Sakura flinging mud at Ino while Ino ran away laughing, and giggled at the sight before turning back to Naruto who was fast finishing his third bowl of ramen. Looking back outside again, she spied the wretched post that had stopped her from coming this far in so many years and felt a deep loathing rise in her.

Maybe, she thought to herself as she quietly ate her own ramen while nodding back at Naruto and his exclamations of joy at having more food, if she asked nicely, she could get Naruto to Rasengan it.

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**A/N: Next up Izumo and Hinata!**

**So yes, please lend me your thoughts via lovely reviews and if not lovely at least ones that don't make me cringe?**

**Oh and don't worry, I had to write heaps at the start to fully explain my intentions but I won't make huge introductions and AN's after this.**

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


	2. Unacquainted

**Siderite**

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**Summary: One shot series. Each chapter will have a new pairing and stands independantly, hence the 'complete' status of this. **

**Also: This chapter is dedicated to the wonderful ChocoLatte Delight because they are awesome. Choco has chosen the wonderfully crack pairing of Izumo x Hinata. Hope you like it and it fulfills all your expectations and if not, there's always next time! **

**Also Also: I realise that **_Dracula _**seems an odd place to get a quote for this one shot but I like it and I hope you do to. And believe me when I say that this fic does not contain vampires or anything supernatural. It's just a quote from a book that happens to have vampires...nothing more, nothing less.**

**Disclaimer: No, *sigh* Naruto is not mine. You'd think that by now that fact wouldn't depress me but it does. *sigh***

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**Unacquainted**

**Izumo x Hinata (K+)**

"You don't know me...I have not faltered in giving every thought of my own heart in this cause; but, of course, you do not know me – yet..."

– _Dracula, _Bram Stoker

The quite Hyuuga looked up at the leader of her village in resignation.

The blonde buxom woman smiled down at her, trying to ignore the group of rambunctious teens, yet to go through the same simple test as what the young girl had just undergone, to her left. There were only four other chuunins and jounins who were available and she had a lot more to get done before she could rest in easy comfort with her ever constant bottle of sake.

"What's the problem Hinata-chan?"

The young woman looked down at her feet, "He won't want to teach me," she replied, trying to get across to the older woman that this was a bad idea, that she wasn't any good with strangers, "He doesn't even know me."

The smile started fade on Tsuande's face, she honestly couldn't understand the Hyuuga's hesitant nature, "That's no reason not to teach you." She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, her voice authoritative, "You'll be fine Hinata-chan, just go and ask him."

Standing up straight at her leader's tone of voice, Hinata nodded and started to walk to the gate's two guards on the other side of town as Tsunade turned back to the other students awaiting their chakra to be labelled and a mentor to be assigned to them.

Kiba flashed a smile and thumbs up as she walked away and Shino shifted slightly which, she knew, was just as good as Kiba's outward show of affection. Waving, she turned her back and started across the field towards the gates.

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Kamizuki Izumo and his ever present friend Hagane Kotetsu were fighting the urge to play cards as they sat by the entrance to the gates. Last time they had been caught they had been given the harshest, loudest ear-bashing they have ever received from their Hokage and they weren't game enough to try it again.

Instead they sat, watched and waited for their posts to be filled by the next guards.

"When do we finish Izumo?" Whined the spiky haired one of the duo.

Izumo sighed and leant his head on his fist, "In a few minutes Kotetsu," He interrupted his friend's burst of joy with his next words, "But when we get home we have to do chores."

"Nani?"

"You heard me," Izumo replied, hardly looking at his teammate and friend, as a sly smile appeared on his face, "_You_ have to do the chores."

"Wait a second," Kotetsu exclaimed, his finger waving between them, "Before you said 'we' have to do the chores, 'we', not 'you'."

"Yes but I just remembered that you lost the last game of poker we played and I seem to recall you betting the next batch of chores."

The chuunin smiled evilly as he watched his friend bang his head on the table.

"So I take it you remember."

"Damn you Izumo," His friend lifted his already bruised head and glared at the man beside him, "You fu-"

"Ano, good morning Hagane-san and Kamizuki-san." A small voice interrupted Kotetsu in the midst of his tirade and Izumo smiled broadly at the young woman, thankful that she had saved him from an earful of profanity, "What can I do for you Hyuuga-san?"

The young woman looked familiar and Izumo tried to place her name. She fidgeted a lot and seemed to be uncommonly shy and a little too easy to read for a kunoichi. Her eyes and long dark hair were an obvious Hyuuga trait and she didn't have the curse seal so she must be from the main branch.

She seemed to struggle with her words and Izumo looked at his friend who shrugged his shoulders before turning back to face the girl who now sported a completely red face.

"Oh, you must be Hyuuga Hinata-san, right?"

Hinata nodded, angry with herself for not having the right words to say to the man who was to be her sensei and disappointed that her reputation seemed to precede her.

Giving up for the moment on words she instead handed him the soggy piece of paper that she had held in her hand all the way from the training grounds to the gates and saw his eyes slit in confusion and then widen in understanding. Finding her voice at last the dark haired girl spoke up, "Would you please be my s-sensei, Kamizuki-san, if it isn't too much trouble?"

Izumo was speechless. This morning Tsunade had come around to all the chuunin and some jounin and talked to them about how some of the younger ones were going to find out what element their chakra was. She told them to expect someone coming to them for mentoring but Izumo was sure that someone else more qualified would get the job.

He looked from the piece of paper, which had fallen into a soggy mess by now, to his new student and frowned.

_This_ was his student? The Hyuuga's heir and disappointment?

Izumo felt Kotetsu elbow him in the ribs and heard him speak for him.

"Izumo would love to do it, wouldn't you Izumo?"

The man nodded his head silently and stood up from his post.

The young girl looked like she was going to cry and the chuunin wasn't sure he could deal with that so he plastered a fake smile on his face and walked over to stand next to her.

"Kotetsu, you can look after the gates for next few minutes by yourself can't you?"

The spiky haired man shrugged, "Sure, no problem, I'll see you at home."

Izumo nodded and walked away while the young heiress trailed along behind him. As he was walking away he called one last time over his shoulder, "And don't forget the chores!"

Izumo grinned slightly as he heard the sound of a head hitting wood again but turned it into a grimace as the thought of _how _he was going to train this, obviously sensitive young girl with the water element chakra, invaded his mind.

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Hinata knew what he was thinking.

As they walked towards the spring where she regularly trained, she could see his downcast expression and realised that he thought she wasn't going to do very well. She knew she shouldn't be surprised by this, she was more than aware that she didn't give the best impression when she met new people.

But it still made her annoyed that so many people, people with authority and people with world experience could be so judgmental with one glance.

Sure, she was hesitant and full of uncertainty in day to day life but when it came to things of importance Hinata liked to think that she acted quickly and effectively. When she needed to, she could be depended upon and the fact that her new sensei was judging everything upon what other's had said and her own hesitation really got to her.

So when Izumo stopped walking and knelt by the water's edge and told her to 'show him what she's got' she decided to do just that.

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Large puddles of water littered the forest floor. The surrounding trees were soaking wet, the drops of water clinging to their leaves. Large dents were dotted throughout the area where a huge expanse of water had been slammed by an immense pressure and small, almost invisible, needle-like dots were scattered all along the trees and ground, some going as far as five feet into the earth.

Izumo lay by the water, close to where they had started an hour ago. His bandana lay next to him leaving his hair wet and stuck up at odd angles, his hand covered his face and his other clutched his side where he was sure a big bruise was coming along nicely.

Moving his hand away with a grimace, he glanced up at the triumphant smile of his new student.

They had fought non-stop as soon as he uttered those _stupid _words. He was impressed by her control of chakra and the new and inventive ways she had used her element but swore he wouldn't fight her again anytime soon.

He watched her as her smile was slowly replaced by an expression of concern. Her teeth slowly bit at her lip and her fingers started fidgeting with her jacket. Her eyes, only a moment ago bright with victory, now creased in hesitation and worry.

He was completely surprised by this transformation of her character. A moment ago she was a powerful kunoichi who you wouldn't cross twice but now before him stood an uncertain teenager, nervous and shy. Slowly he made a grin spread across his face to signal that he was ok and took her proffered hand as he made his way to his feet.

"Wow"

It was all he could say and he watched as her face lit up in joy at his praise.

"Hyuuga-san, that was _very_ impressive."

"Thank you Kamizuki-san," She said, bowing slightly to him, "In all fairness though, I did surprise you."

"Its sensei Hyuuga-san, call me Izumo-sensei"

Hinata looked up sharply and took in the chuunin as he knelt down and retrieved his bandana, "There are a couple of things that you need to look over and I'll help you with that," he continued, brushing the leaves of his headband before tightening it over his hair and smiling at his new charge, "If you think I have anything to teach you that is."

The Hyuuga chuckled softly before responding, "Of course Izumo-sensei, I don't think Tsunade-sama would send me to someone who had nothing to teach."

After they had talked a bit more and Izumo had pointed out a few things that she needed to improve, they agreed to meet the next day to train and said their goodbyes.

Izumo shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched the pale eyed heiress walk away from him. He snapped himself out of his daydreaming and started the walk back to his own home, he had a lot to tell Kotetsu and he felt for sure that he would never judge another shinobi by appearance ever again. He rubbed his side as he walked away and grimaced as his steps faltered ever so slightly on his left side, he felt that he probably deserved the bruise that was going to appear and the limp that was slowly emerging for doubting the dark haired kunoichi.

She was smart, fast and very good, not to mention very pretty.

Yes, he thought to himself, he had a lot to talk to Kotetsu about, he just hoped he had enough energy to be able to talk to him when he got home.

He sighed as his body seemed to shrink in on itself, _if _he got home, he ammended.

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**A/N: Well, what did you think? By the way, this deleted itself about three times so if there is something wrong with it, I'm not too game to try and fix it up just yet, maybe give me a week....or two.**

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


	3. Dreams

**Siderite**

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**Summary: One shot series. Each chapter will have a new pairing and stands independantly, hence the 'complete' status of this. Ratings down below with pairing.**

**Also: This chapter is dedicated to the ever brilliant diff-r-ent-1. I hope you like it! I really liked writing it which I'm sure you can tell by the larger than average word count...**

**Disclaimer: No, *sigh* Naruto is not mine. You'd think that by now that fact wouldn't depress me but it does. *sigh***

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**Dreams**

**Gaara x Hinata (T)**

I waked  
She fled  
And day brought back my night

_- On His Deceased Wife, _John Milton

The dark clothed man knocked on his brother's bedroom door. He wasn't sure why he knocked, he never got a response lately, but he did it anyway. Without waiting for a response, which would never have come, he pushed open the door and entered the room. Standing in the entranceway with a plate full of food, he could see his brother perfectly. He sat by the window, in the same position he'd been in for several weeks now, his eyes were dimmed and staring at the village outside his large window without seeing it. His clothes were hardly rumpled, his hair tossed into a few careless sweeps and, the dark clothed young man knew, his skin clean from a recent wash, but it still lacked a healthy light, it was slowly becoming sallow and marked by sorrow.

Kankurou silently watched his brother and remembered that his sister would have come in and harassed the man before him until he was finally washed and changed before he had come, but he would hardly have eaten, though not from a lack of trying on everyone else's behalf - a few of the plates in the room touched only by little pieces taken were token of this - and he would never move from his silent vigil by the window. The only other activity he did besides watching was sleeping. Kankurou kept watching while his brother sat.

He wants to sleep, Kankurou could see it in his brother's eyes, he wants to sleep so that he can reclaim that short amount of time when he hardly did. Reliving the time when her laughter could be heard through the house, when her eyes were bright with joy and when her soft presence brought a comfort that the three siblings hadn't ever really known.

Kankurou dropped the plate of food he was carrying in a clear spot on the desk table and looked back up to see if the noise had moved his brother. Nothing happened and Kankurou's gaze swept past his brother and went outside to see what his brother always looked at.

This was where Gaara had last seen her and the face painted young man wondered if his brother could see a mirage, could see her ghost there, still crying, still silently begging for him to run out and take her away from what she must do. But he never did and he's left now with horrible regret and impossible wishes.

Kankurou can see it in his eyes, his bearing and his hung head. His red headed brother wishes that he had never slept those few hours that he had, never closed his eyes for those few moments when he had her so he could have taken in everything about her while he still could.

But he didn't and the only thing he can think of is to sleep.

Because if he sleeps he might see her and everything would be right where it was supposed to be.

Him with her, never to part.

He just needed to sleep.

The puppet master turned his back quickly as he felt his anger grow in him as he saw his younger brother's eyes drift closed.

He didn't understand why Gaara didn't just ride his sand to Konoha, destroy anything that got in his way, kill anyone stupid enough to bar his way to her, and bring her back to Suna, back home.

Oh, he understood _technically _why he didn't and why he couldn't do all those things that Kankurou would have done in a heartbeat. Gaara was the Kazekage and with that title came an unmeasurable amount of responsibility. The village was to _always _go ahead of what the leader himself wanted or needed but it just didn't seem _right_ to the puppet master. Why must the man who has sacrificed so much already sacrifice his last attempt to find joy in life?

Kankurou walked out of Gaara's large bedroom, still touched with small hints of a lost femininity, and stalked down the hallway almost bumping into his older sister.

"Still no change?" she asked, her voice low and furtive.

Kankurou shook his head, "He only ever sleeps, and when he doesn't sleep he's trying to get there."

Temari hung her head, "There's got to be something we can do," she whispered, "Something we're not seeing."

The face painted young man folded his arms as he whispered back angrily, "We've tried _everything _Temari, and nothing seems to work with him."

"Shhh," she whispered her finger to her lips as she looked around, "We've managed to keep his condition secret this far, don't be an idiot and ruin it now."

"Well I'm sorry," spoke a wholly un-sorry Kankurou, "But I'm getting sick of this, why don't we just bring her back home?"

"You _know _we can't do that"

"Why not?"

"Because, this was her choi-"

Kankurou cut in angrily, his voice rising steadily leaving Temari thanking Kami that there was no one in the hallway, "You _know_ she had no choice! They came here – against _my_ wishes, I'll have you know – and took her the next day. I don't care that her father died, I don't care that they changed their minds, she had a sister and a more than qualified cousin that could have been the next leader. When she came here to marry our brother they _told_ her that she wasn't ever going to be head of the Hyuugas. Why did they have to _take her?!"_

Temari nodded her head, "I know, I know, Kankurou, but it's Hyuuga business," the blonde haired kunoichi looked pointedly at her brother, "There is nothing you can say that will change that." She placed a hand on his shoulder and sighed, hating the words as she said them, "There is nothing we can do."

~~~*~~~

Gaara heard the harsh voices in the corridor near his bedroom but he blocked them out effortlessly as he sat by the window staring at where he had last seen her, as if his vivid last recollection of her could bring her back.

Closing his eyes his disposition brightened considerably as he felt himself at last fall asleep.

And he finally dreamed.

She was waiting, as she always was, by a small creek. Her hand was running through the water as she knelt by the edge and her other hand was holding the skirt of her white dress up and out of the way of the stream. Flowers surrounded her on the ground and birds chirped overhead in this idyllic setting he had created in his mind for them. The sun gave its dappled light through the branches of the trees and fell on her creating an ethereal sensation to the whole image. His lips curved upwards in a smile as he walked forward to greet her.

Hearing him walk towards her, the dark haired woman looked over her shoulder and beamed beatifically at him. Standing up she giggled as she threw her arms open and ran towards him.

Catching her, he spun her around in the air, completely revelling in the intoxicating emotions she filled him up with. Spinning her softly till she landed on the ground before him, Gaara tilted his head downwards, touching their foreheads together, and couldn't keep the smile off his face as she sighed and leant against him. The young man moved his arms from her waist untill one stopped at the small of her back, pushing her into him more and the other rested at the back of her neck, trying to immerse himself into her as much as he could. In response, he could feel her smaller hands come and rest on his chest as her head dropped to his collar bone. He laid his head on top of hers, breathing in her scent before this bittersweet dream ended.

The two needed no words as they seemed to intake each other's presence and remained in that position for as long as they could. Suddenly, Gaara felt his wife start to fade away and could only watch in horror, though this scene had been acted out many times before, as her eyes grew wide and fearful. She tried to grab hold of him and keep him and her in this peaceful land that he had created but as he looked down he realised that he too, like all the other times, was fading.

How he wished they could stay, but it wasn't meant to be.

He fisted his right hand to his chest and then unfurled it as he extended his arm to her, their place and her face fading into nothingness as he knew he was.

_I am yours, always._

He woke up again, and cursed his body's natural functioning. He didn't understand why he had to wake up. As soon as he woke she was gone and he was left wishing that he could just sleep forever.

'Why did you leave me,' he thought to himself, his gaze once again travelling to the outside world, to the entrance of his city, where she had looked back that last time with tears falling down her face, 'Why, Hinata?'

~~~*~~~

The puppet master had left his older sister in the hallway after their half whispered, half shouted conversation and was now outside in the marketplace. It was afternoon and the stalls were just being set up while the sun started to fall - as it was now deemed safe to set out as the sun's devastating and harsh rays had rescinded for the day – and it was a bustle of activity.

It was a welcome change for the young man as the Kazekage tower had started to take on a funereal atmosphere as soon as the lovely Hyuuga had left. Kankurou walked along the streets, ignoring the calls of the vendors and concerned residents who asked about the Kazekage – and which he always replied "Fine, fine, he's fine, just a little heartbroken is all" – and started to reminisce about his sister-in-law. When she had first come to Suna, the first thing that he had noticed was how well she had dressed for the climate. The next thing he noticed was the small amount of baggage that she had brought with her. Kankurou had been led to believe that women brought bags upon bags of clothing, shoes and jewellery but all the shy young woman had brought with her were the essentials.

When he had asked why she had brought so little, sneering as he did and implying by his tone that she didn't think she'd last long, she had shocked him and replied in a soft but unfaltering voice that if she was going to start a new life here in Suna, why should she bring meaningless trinkets and inappropriate clothes from her old life in Konoha?

He had no answer for her and escorted her the rest of the way to the Kage tower in silence.

Kicking a stone out of his way, the face painted man remembered the look in Gaara's eyes when she had presented herself to him at the front steps of the tower. His eyes had lighted up and his whole face had lost the sulking expression that he had adopted while he had been waiting for his new bride to arrive.

"I'm home," she had said, her voice cracking through the uptight and formal exterior of the 'Kazekage'. Gaara got off his seat with arms wide open and an unabashed smile, lifted her into his arms and laughing with her as he carried her into her new residence, with all the attendants, all the shinobi, all the servants and all the civilians cheering and applauding as they welcomed their newest kunoichi into their lands.

She was a model citizen and had become one of them instantaneously, her shyness endearing to the young men and women, her manners and proper etiquette winning favour with the older generations, her cooking and warm smiles gained the love of the children and her grace and unique fighting ability, which she had become a master at, brought the respect and appreciation from the shinobi community.

And she had loved it here, Kankurou knew, she had gone for walks by herself to explore her new home and had made friends along the way. The climate and the lack of vegetation at first bothering her, she soon adapted to it and found a different beauty in the land around her. She spoke of her family and friends back in Konoha fondly but with no regret of her decision to come here.

The puppet master suddenly, unwilling to control his temper any longer kicked the stone that was on the path in front of him again as hard as he could. They had taken his sister – because sister is what she had become to him – and he was sure that he would never forgive them.

His anger stopped abruptly as he felt a keening sense of worry go through him, if _he_ felt like this, what must Gaara be feeling? The one woman who had seen through his controlled barrier and had loved him in spite of all his faults was gone. The woman who had gradually become a part of his heart over time had left him.

Their romance had been slow and not completely romantic but they had had love and it was stronger than anything Kankurou had ever seen.

He shook his head and walked up to where the stone had landed a little off the path and kicked it again and again and again till he lifted his eyes from the ground and the beaten stone to what lay ahead of him. He found himself at the entrance to his village and looked out at the distant horizon, watching as the sun's rays created an almost ripple like effect across the sand, obscuring his vision from looking too far out.

What was that?

He thought he had seen something and called up to one of the guards on duty.

"Did you see that?" He yelled, his voice carrying to a couple of the other shinobi who glanced down to the Kazekage's brother, "Is there something out there?"

"No sir," was the response as Kankurou lifted his hand to shade his eyes from the last dying embers of the sun.

"Look harder, I swear I saw something."

The guards grumbled under their breath, this was not the first time that someone had 'seen' something that they hadn't- a few of them insisting that the Lady Hyuuga was coming back. It was worse though, when the children came up to them, which they did almost every day, asking if 'Hina-chan' had come back yet and they had to answer in the negative every single time.

They didn't even really look as one of them answered back down to the young man, "There's nothing sir," and then as an afterthought, "Sorry sir."

~~~*~~~

Red hair swept into the young man's line of vision and he tried to push it back behind his ear as he stared out of his window.

If he couldn't sleep and couldn't dream then he tried to survive on good memories. He was in the midst of remembering when he had first met her, had first talked to her, had first kissed her, had first laid down with her – all of his memories being jumbled together from constant remembrance – when he spied something in the distance.

Unused to actual brain activity since she had left, it took a while for any physical reaction to occur but once his mind caught on to what his eyes were screaming at him to see and understand, he jumped up from the window seat.

Promptly falling back down into the cushions, - his legs untried in so many uneventful days and weeks and months, from the lack of movement - he gritted his teeth and leant on the window sill as he stood up again, this time slower. Leaning his upper body out of the window slightly, the Kazekage slitted his eyes against the sun's last rays and could barely see a blur of colour that seemed to swim in and out of his line of vision.

Walking to the door of his bedroom, he flung it open and ran down the hallway.

Upon hearing a great commotion in the tower, Temari opened her door and saw Gaara run past her. After she gotten over the fact that Gaara was out of his bedroom and running of all things, the blonde kunoichi ran after him and grabbed him by his sleeve. He almost lashed out at her but stopped himself as he panted and wheezed from exerting his body past what it was used to.

She saw the wild look in his eyes and phrased her question carefully, "Gaara, where are you going in such a rush?"

The sand shinobi twisted his arm out of her grip and fixed his suddenly lucid eyes on his sister, a grin spreading across his face in child like joy, "She's back," he whispered.

Temari couldn't believe her ears and called after her brother who sprinted away from her, his strength coming back in leaps and bounds at the thought of his wife back in his arms, "Gaara no," she called out, trying to get through to her brother that what he thought was true must be a lie because they wouldn't just let her _go._

Instead he kept running and she started after him, trying to get to him before he ran out into the street.

Past door after door she ran, trying to get ahead of him, but for some reason he ran faster than he'd ever run before. She was surprised and chagrined by his sudden burst of speed that saw him out the front door and dodging shocked and concerned citizens who quickly got out of the way of their leader.

"Gaara!"

Unmindful of all the commotion that was happening around him, the man ran faster and finally saw the entrance to his village up ahead.

Gaara stopped there as he lost sight of the blur of colour that had been guiding him and stood very still as he tried to perceive past the ripples to what he knew was coming towards him. Hearing loud voices, he looked up to see his brother shouting at one of the guards and pulling the man roughly by the collar of his jacket with one hand, bellowing in his face, while his other hand was pointing energetically into the distance where Gaara had last seen the blur.

One of the guards, who were trying to get Kankurou off their comrade looked down and saw Gaara staring back at them. When Kankurou felt the man's hand slide off his back and heard a gasp he looked around and followed the man's eyes down to the ground.

"Gaara," he whispered, and then louder, "Gaara, I can see her!"

The puppet master, still holding onto the guard with one hand, kept his other hand pointing into the distance where Gaara now could see the blur become the distinct impression of a person. Without a second glance, he burst forward again, just as Temari was coming up behind him and had made a grab for the back of his shirt.

Leaving his sister in the sand and his brother on the rampart of the village he ran forward towards the only woman he had ever loved.

"Bring her back home little brother," he heard being called after him but he didn't respond and soon the image ahead of him became clearer and clearer to him.

Her hair had been cut and hacked off in an obvious fit of rage, the jagged pieces sticking to her head with sweat and dirt. Her face was red from the exertion of the days of walking that she had done by herself and from the looks of it, no food or water. Her eyes had sunken into her skull and her skin was white, not her usual pale skin but an unclean, sickly white. Her lips were chapped and bleeding and her clothes were torn, old, ragged and hanging on by single threads. But the harshest thing about her, the worst change that he could have ever have imagined was there on her forehead. The symbol of the branch house was imprinted, the black insignia had obviously been burned into her, the red welts obvious against her unsightly white skin.

He caught her as she fell, her eyes closing shut and her breath leaving her in a rush, and he lifted her up, not unlike the first time she had come to his village.

He walked softly back, his eyes never leaving her face, and finally came into his village where his people waited impatiently for their leader and whatever he was bringing back. His first steps into Suna brought a round of gasps from the people who first noticed and recognised the unconscious Hyuuga. Old and young women alike brought their hands to their mouths and widened their eyes in shock at what had been done to their Lady Hyuuga, to their Kazekage's wife. The men and shinobi that caught sight of the cursed seal upon her forehead spat on the ground and swore vengeance to the people who had done it. The children hid behind their mother's skirts and tried not to cry as they remembered the good young woman who told stories and cooked them cookies.

Silence reigned for a while as Gaara stood still, quietly contemplating her face and feeling anger build inside him. Kankurou finally made a move as he jumped down from the great height of the sand wall surrounding the village and walked up to his brother and sister-in-law.

"She's not...?"

He left the question hanging and everyone around the three shinobi stood still, waiting for the horrible answer that must be coming from their leader's lips. She certainly looked dead, and if not dead then almost there.

Gaara couldn't answer and continued to look at his beautiful wife whose eyes would not open.

A medic nin came up out of the crowd and looked apologetically at his Kazekage before putting a green glowing hand to her breast. Gaara didn't move and mother's hushed their children while they all waited for the medic's diagnosis.

"She fights Kazekage-sama," he said with a smile, relief covering his face, "Our lady is strong."

"I know," said Gaara, his voice coming out soft but clear as the anger was replaced by a sense of gratefulness, "I know."

Temari came up to her brother who held his precious burden and put her hand on his back, "Come on Gaara," she said her voice sounding gruff, trying to get across to him some sense of urgency, "Give her to the medic. She needs to be looked after now."

"I'm ok," a pathetically weak voice broke through the approaching argument, making everyone's eyes fall on the Hyuuga in Gaara's arms.

Opening her eyes Hinata looked up at her husband and a very faint red stained her cheeks bringing a chuckle from the people around her. If she could still blush, no matter how dimly, then she was going to be all right.

She sighed and leant up into him, bringing her arms around his neck and hugging her body close to his.

"You were what brought me back," she said, her voice tinged with fatigue. Her eyes fluttered closed again, sleep being the body's appropriate response to how much damage had been inflicted upon her, but she kept them open for a little while longer "Oh Kami, I'm finally home," she whispered and managed to weakly smile to the people around her and up to her husband.

He smiled and leant his head down to her, their foreheads touching for a moment before she rested her head on his collarbone and he rested his on her head, breathing in her scent, her essence.

Walking forwards again, he walked through the crowd and headed towards the hospital so she could be healed while Temari and Kankurou dispersed the people and told them that their Lady Hyuuga and 'Hina-chan' were going to be fine with a promise to visit them later on to tell them of her condition.

As Gaara walked he remembered his constant dream where he had held her in almost the same way and smiled again as he pressed her fragile and weak body closer into his.

Dreams were dreams but _this_ he would keep and never let go, ever again.

* * *

**A/N: Ok! So I've been wanting to do a gaahina for a while now and am happy with what came out of my convulted mind. Though I will try a bit later on to do a full on romantic story if not a one shot. I guess time will tell. Please feel free to comment, pollute, and loiter in my stories. I remain, always - **

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


	4. Revelation

**Siderite**

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**Summary: One shot series. Each chapter will have a new pairing and stands independantly, hence the 'complete' status of this. Each chapter will have independant ratings as well, you'll find them next to the pairing. **

**Also: This one shot is rated M for violence and battlefield descriptions - not in great depth mind you but I feel more comfortable hiking the rating up for it.**

**Also Also: This chapter is dedicated to **_Sepsis _**because they've always reviewed and made me feel like a million dollars each time so they get to choose the pairing and the chosen pairing is Kisame x Hinata! So I hope you like this **_Sepsis _**I really liked writing it!**

**Disclaimer: No, *sigh* Naruto is not mine. You'd think that by now that fact wouldn't depress me but it does. *sigh***

* * *

**Revelation**

**Kisame x Hinata (M)**

"Pity filled his heart and great wonder...He clenched his hand. She should not die, so fair, so desperate! At least she should not die alone, unaided."  
– _Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, _JRR Tolkien

Bodies littered the path of the staggering, blue skinned man. Some of the bodies were whole but more often than not they were hacked to pieces; arms lay apart from their bodies and legs were strewn amongst the carnage of internal organs. The strange man's small, harsh eyes were fixed on the road ahead and he managed to spot some fights through the dirt that was being kicked up, - different ninja with different abilities fighting different enemies – ironically it was always the same.

The entire plain was a melee of confusion and a violence of voices; some screaming, some crying and some with silences louder than the shouts of their comrades, all marked with eyes dazed, crazed and filled with delirium. The shinobi that were still alive but not fighting were saving the wounded and trying to not come under the battle madness that had taken hold of friends and foes alike.

The flat plateau, where conflicts still raged, was gouged, torn, chewed up and rent asunder. Pockmarks littered the ground where a fight was won and lost and the victor not sure if his plight was much better than the loser.

As the huge man walked through an area that seemed clear of fighting and anything alive, yet full of bodies, he somehow had the strength to carry his enormous sword, which was free of any bandages but covered in blood and pieces of skin, and his black and red cloak in one hand, while his other hand was pressed hard to his side, blood seeping out from between his fingers, staining his blue skin red.

Hoshigaki Kisame walked alone. His face grim, his teeth crunching together as another spasm of pain rocked through him, his body shuddering as each step he took was filled with the horrible truth that this was _it._

From a young age, battle had been his way of life, he had grown to love the smell of fear, the look of defeat and sound of hate, but he'd never been prepared for the ending of his own life.

And by who? He didn't even know. He wasn't even sure that the poison tipped kunai was _meant_ for him, which sorely tested his egotistical view on himself and his prowess in battle.

The fight, battle, war – whatever you wanted to call it, it all just meant death and loss and victory and blood to him – wasn't even tempered by a harsh dividing line of 'them versus us'. It had turned into something ungodly and completely surreal.

Konoha had turned in upon itself; clan leader was now against clan leader and son against father. There were small pockets of jounin and chuunin and ANBU trying to regain some semblance to normalcy but nothing was working and when Suna joined the never ending combat it just made matters worse. The remaining Akatsuki members would have just left and let the people sort things out for themselves now that the truth was out about the sordid past of Konoha, but Konoha and Suna shinobi were still engaging them, making retreat impossible.

Not that Kisame wanted to leave mind you, his place was on the battlefield, always with his beloved Samehada in his hand, shredding any opposition around him - formidable in battle and close to undefeatable. Even when his immense chakra started to fade the slightest bit Samehada would give him chakra to make up for his loss.

But it hadn't saved him this time.

The poison, of some unheard of and of unnamed variety, he was sure, had already spread throughout his body, even now he could feel the cold travel through his limbs. As soon as this chill rested about his heart, death would be close at hand.

Stumbling on an outstretched hand that lay at his feet, Kisame tried to regain his balance but felt the coldness grip the muscles in his calves and bring him to the earth. Lying there, angry about the slow debilitating weakness overtaking him, his eyes fell on the sightless pupils of a boy, not many years out of the academy. There was a fierceness in the set of his jaw that bespoke of the passion of fighting he had once had but his brows were knit together in confusion and the Akatsuki member could envision the anger in the now dead eyes that must have been his last expression this boy wore before death came and overtook his features.

There was a sense of futility to the scene that the barely alive man had never felt before. He had been taught that battle was full of glory and victory but right now, to him and to the dead young boy beside him, there was no _glory_. This fight was _pointless_.

Hoshigaki tried to shrug his shoulders but found that the will to move had gone out of him - or it could have been the poison. 'Death comes to us all,' Kisame thought to himself, 'but I never thought it would come to me.'

"No! Neji!"

A voice, louder than the rest of the cries, shouts of battle and groans of the wounded came to him. By the sound of things there was a battle happening or about to happen right in front of him.

"Can't I die in peace?" He grumbled to himself.

"Don't touch him!"

This was spat out in such uncontrived anger that the Monster of Kirigakure couldn't help but be intrigued by what was happening in front of him. Shifting his body slightly, he was able to grab a body from behind him and slide himself till the bloodied torso was underneath his back, thereby elevating his view so he didn't have to keep his head aright the whole time, not that he could have anyway, the cold was seeping through his body, though it had slowed considerably since he'd stopped moving.

Now able to see what was happening, Kisame saw in clear view, a young man, not much older than the one beside him, on the ground. His eyes were closed and blood was coming from the man's mouth, his clothes torn and besmirched with mud, blood and sweat. His hair was strewn across the ground and - Kisame thought – much too pretty for a man. There was a mark on his brow and the shark man knew, from all his travels, that he was Hyuuga. Branch Hyuuga.

Bent over the clearly unconscious shinobi stood a man with a glowing hand, about to deliver the final strike. The blue skinned man wasn't sure where this shinobi was from or what technique he was using but it seemed like he had gotten the best of this Konoha nin. The victor of the battle had dark hair and fair skin and his hit-iate wasn't visible – most likely lost in one of the many battles that had occurred these last few days.

The man had paused in his movements and was now turning to meet the charge of the one who had called out.

She was ardently beautiful. Her long dark hair flew behind her as she ran at the man who was bent over the Hyuuga. As she came, the man stepped back to get himself into his fighting stance but he was too slow as the kunoichi came barrelling through, knocking him backwards, almost toppling him onto Kisame. There was no art behind the shove, it was just a vicious move to get him away from the unconscious Hyuuga

With the man's back to the blue skinned man, the dark haired young woman was in his line of sight. Her eyes were Hyuuga and activated as the veins on both temples stood to the fore. Her arms and palms were held in front of her and at her side, in a gesture of defiance and in readiness to fight for the man now just behind her. Hoshigaki couldn't help but appreciate her eagerness to fight this man and her outward beauty. She looked like some warrior goddess and in that moment Kisame became enamoured of her. Suddenly she looked to him, no doubt seeing his immense amount of chakra, he was actually surprised that she hadn't noticed him before but her focus on the man in front of her must have made her lose her awareness. It was a stupid mistake but he'd made stupider ones.

His imminent death being one.

He winked at her, hopefully conveying to this woman that he was no threat, as it was the only thing he was certain that he could do, and watched as her eyes faintly switched from him to her opponent. It was only in the slight adjustment of her eyes and thankfully the man didn't seem to pick up on it. He didn't know why, but the shark faced man was thankful for that, he didn't want the other man to know that he was there.

The man paused for a moment, taking in her determination and attitude before relaxing his body.

Kisame almost groaned when he saw the girl's face hesitate for a brief second before she quickly covered her faux pas by gritting her teeth and tensing her body. But it was too late, in that minute moment of hazardous hesitation Kisame and, he was sure, her opponent had seen that she was not as confident as she showed herself to be.

Kisame didn't want her to die; he didn't want her death to be the last thing that he saw so he found himself rooting for her. He watched in avid fascination as the complexities of battle began.

Quickly the man jumped forward and ran towards the girl, his right fist aimed for the girl's stomach but she managed to deflect it with her outstretched palm, thrusting his whole body off balance while her other hand by her side came up and hit the man's shoulder, making him turn slightly and giving her apparent access to his heart. Not letting the opportunity pass, the kunoichi turned her body, one of her legs between his, trying to offset him more and pushing her whole body downwards with her hand in front of her, aiming for the killing strike. The dark haired man saw this so he fell to the ground, landing on her foot and slicing her ankle with a kunai he had hidden in his fist.

Jumping away quickly, the young woman cried out as she twisted her foot to get away from her opponent's weight and kunai, spraining her ankle in the process.

Her balance was off as she staggered for a bit, trying to alleviate the pain from her sprained ankle and the other one which was bleeding heavily on to the ground. She stood her ground though and the shark man was impressed by that.

The man squirmed on the ground for a bit, flinging himself up suddenly and Kisame could see why he had trouble getting up. His shirt was torn and his side was bleeding slightly, but not enough. The young kunoichi must have thrown a couple of kunai at him while he was down. She was quick as well as tough; he hadn't even seen her throw them.

Kisame saw the man's back straighten and watched as he leaped forward throwing a plethora of kunai at the girl, which she repelled with a special technique. Kisame's eyes widened as he saw her arms twirl and move almost erratically to deflect each weapon tossed at her, her eyes full of concentration.

The man deliberately missed her and aimed at the Hyuuga behind her with one of his kunai. Somehow the man had, through skill and dexterity, made the kunoichi move slightly to the left, giving an opening to the Hyuuga behind her. Faltering, the young woman wore a brief look of indecision before diving for the kunai, her hand outstretched as she tried to get to it before the sharp tool imbedded itself into the unconscious man's temple.

Crying out she seemed to have caught it as she dropped and rolled and sprang back up to her feet. Her balance teetering again as the pain from both ankles and now four other wounds seemed to overtake her. Her teeth clenched hard and she opened her fist to reveal that the kunai had pierced her palm, the sharp tip all the way through to the other side of her hand.

Three other kunai had found their target and she ripped the one in her side out first before staggering and falling to the ground. There was one other in her right calf and the other one was in her right forearm.

When she had dived to save her family member she had left herself open to the other attacks – the man had taken note of her weakness and had used it well against her but Kisame wasn't pleased.

Usually fights like these were enjoyable. The better ninja won and the loser died but for some reason this scene in front of him didn't seem right. This girl fought so hard and basically sacrificed herself for the man behind her and for what? He was probably going to die as well and her sacrifice would have been for nothing. Where would the glory be in killing two incapacitated Konoha nin?

Feeling his anger rise, the Akatsuki member slowly rose to his feet, not feeling the poison at the moment and shrugging off the coldness and numbness that was rising to his waist. Somehow he bent over and picked up his huge sword and dragged it over to the man who was smugly smiling over the girl. He was standing side on to Kisame but thankfully his attention was fully on the girl who was speaking harsh words up at him while trying to conceal the kunai in her left hand.

'Good girl,' he thought

He dragged his sword, not having the strength to drape it over his shoulder, the metal making large tracks in the dirt and moving bodies around it, as he walked solidly to the enemy.

Standing almost beside him, Kisame raised his sword with both hands and waited till the man turned to him - his face comical in the look of surprise he gave - and swiftly swung it down hard.

Unfortunately the man stepped back a bit so the sword didn't fatally wound him but it did knock him to the ground – his eyes wide as one side of his body looked like it had gone through a grater of some sort.

The blue skinned man watched as his Samehada dropped out of his grip and fell to the ground, his hands unable to grip it any longer, and felt his legs give out. He fell next to his sword and gasped harshly as his lungs started to shut down, the poison now coming to his heart. The last few seconds of movement had made the cold seep through his body all the more faster.

He lay beside the man he had just wounded and was disappointed that he hadn't managed to kill him.

Flesh wounds in all, but it did look horrible, blood pouring out and some cuts - where the sword had been closest to the skin – not even bleeding yet, the skin inside white.

He watched as the young woman, seizing her chance, quickly crawled over to the man who had just now raised his good hand in defence at the sight of her coming towards him. She sliced his arm from wrist to elbow and he dropped his defence momentarily - but it was enough. With both hands clenched around her kunai, stained with her own blood and now his, she raised it to the height of her head – not high enough to leave her open – and swiftly stabbed the man in the heart.

No battle cry, no words of victory just a calm silence as she watched the man gurgle on the blood that seeped from his mouth and she didn't turn away till his eyes glazed over heralding death.

When she did move, she crawled back over to the Hyuuga man, still not even glancing at Kisame, and checked to make sure he was fine, her hand glowing dimly. Sitting back on her legs she sighed and smiled slightly, signalling that the young Hyuuga was still alive.

Turning finally to meet the steady gaze of Kisame the young girl raised her voice.

"Thank you," she said her voice no longer vicious and full of anger but filled with gratitude, "You saved his life."

"Wasn't his life I wanted to save," he managed to choke out, the poison starting to rise to his head, making turning it impossible and talking hard as his lungs were almost paralysed.

Sensing his discomfiture the young girl crawled back over to Kisame, not even glancing at the dead man beside him. Sitting next to him, she raised her hand to his chest and the green glow emitted from her hand again.

"I'm sorry," she said after a moment, "It's too far gone."

"I know," he wheezed. He had finally begun to accept his death.

"Is there anything I can do for you, anything you want to say or be done," she asked, her gaze and voice full of genuine promise.

He nodded.

"Can you sit by me till I go?"

She nodded, not even having to think about it for a moment.

The time was too late to ask questions about why he had fought for her and why she had sacrificed herself for someone else, the last few moments of his life were spent in the company of a beautiful young woman with no words, no songs just a companionable silence and he felt at ease about that.

Her hand pressed into his though he didn't feel it so much as see it and her other hand landed on his chest as his wheezing grew in volume and his body started to shake.

"There's no glory in war," he said, wanting to make his last revelations about life available for someone to hear as he felt the cold encircle his heart and his lungs fail to give any more oxygen, "Tell them that, tell them it's pointless."

"I will," she replied, her voice cracking.

As he closed his eyes he felt lips press to his forehead and water drop on his face.

He'd never had a girl cry over him before.

He smiled briefly and then felt the cold take hold.

And then there was nothing.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked it and it wasn't too sad. I wasn't sure who to have her fighting so I just made a new charachter who will never appear again :D He wasn't important anyway...**

**So yes, please review if you feel the need to and tell me what you think. I'm really enjoying writing all these crack pairings but next will be the Naruto x Hinata that I promised Ohioan a while ago. After that I'm thinking Deidara but if you have any particular pairing you are **_dieing _**to read let me know and I'll try my best!**

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


	5. Confessions

**Siderite**

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**Summary: One shot series. Each chapter will have a new pairing and stands independantly, hence the 'complete' status of this. Each chapter will have independant ratings as well, you'll find them next to the pairing. **

**Also: Finally! It's finally here! This chapter is [finally] dedicated to **_Ohioan0897 _**because they've alwys helped me along with invaluable criticisims! You asked for this a while ago and this pairing has slowly been killing me, it took ages and I apologise for that! So without further ado, here is the latest pairing!**

**Disclaimer: No, *sigh* Naruto is not mine. You'd think that by now that fact wouldn't depress me but it does. *sigh***

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**Confessions**

**Naruto x Hinata (T)**

"You never saw it, did you? You never saw how much I loved you, and longed for you, so that I couldn't trust myself to touch, knowing if I started I couldn't stop, and I might do something that would frighten you away for ever?"  
– _Child of the Prophecy, _Juliet Marillier

So this was how she was going to die.

A rather slow death for a kunoichi and shinobi but she had imagined far worse.

She checked her surroundings one last time before giving up complete hope of a rescue or an escape and was filled with a harsh acceptance at the thought of her imminent death.

The dark haired young woman was currently sitting down on the sand in the middle of a cave. The cave was dark though a small amount of light touched the walls from the far off entrance but, unfortunately, the sun was already setting so the bare light that was coming through was slowly but surely dimming. It wouldn't be long now, though the mouth of the cave was a fair distance from where she was, the kunoichi was also able to make out the sounds of waves crashing as the tide made its way to where she sat, it would be here soon.

She shifted in her bonds and bit back a gasp of pain, the rope was so thick and tight that it didn't even budge in her efforts to be loose and was chaffing her wrists so badly that the strands of rope were making her skin break. She felt the warm blood run down into her hands and closed her eyes as she felt the beginnings of water brush her feet softly before running back out of the cave.

Soon the water wouldn't run back until the next day, by which time it would be too late.

Hinata sat still and felt herself growing angry.

Hadn't she become more than this? Why was she giving up now at the time when she should be fighting the hardest?

Opening her eyes she gritted her teeth and looked around again. If only her hands weren't tied, there were a million different things she could, even with the miniscule amount of chakra she had left, but their enemies knew this and had made it impossible to manage even one seal.

The person behind her, on the other side of the boulder, felt her moving and shifted in their bonds, moaning softly, "Hinata-chan, don't push yourself, I'll get us out of here somehow."

The kunoichi didn't respond and kept checking the area, hoping for something or someone, tuning her ears to smallest sound.

But there was nothing.

She had no doubt that their bodies would be recovered but it was all a matter of time. She had left messages for either of her teammates, who knew what to look for, and had sent one of Shino's bugs to get help, as she always kept at least one of them at Shino's insistence. But she had no idea where they were or how close or far away they were from help.

And so here she was, about to die, and the worst part of it was that the person she loved the most was behind her, about to die because of her.

"Naruto-kun," she said softly, trying not to upset him too much, "I don't think we're going to get out."

"Don't give up Hinata-chan!" He shouted out, his eager voice carrying across the cave and echoing around them.

"I'm so sorry Hinata-chan," breathed the blonde ninja after a moment, "this is all my fault, I should never have brought you along."

"No, it's my fault Naruto-kun," cried out the tired girl, "if I hadn't insisted on coming you wouldn't be here. I was used against you as leverage and if I wasn't here you could unleash Kyuubi's chakra and get out of here. I'm so sorry Naruto-kun." Hinata whispered, trying to get across how incredibly responsible she felt for all of this. She felt the beginnings of tears form and run down her cheeks, "Promise me," her voice turned urgent now, "promise me that when it looks like I'm gone you'll unleash him so that you can survive."

"Don't even talk like that," his voice started raise as he started to get more upset, his arms flexing against the rope, trying to find a way to move, "we'll get out of here and then in a couple of years we'll laugh about it whenever we think of this moment. About how some crazy luck freed us and we walked home free and alive." Silence same over them again except for the gradually louder sound of the water slowly rising.

The two shinobi were tired, hungry and beaten. Hinata, she knew, had two broken ribs, a broken wrist and a snapped ligament in her ankle, not to mention the abundance of scratches, deep cuts and bruises all along her body. She had seen Naruto go down amidst many kicks, punches and kunai and knew that he too would be suffering similar injuries to her, if not worse.

They had been on a routine C-rank mission, all they were to do was to escort a rich man home. The mission itself was of no worry - except for Hinata having to get over her fainting fits whenever Naruto patted her on the shoulder - but on the return journey they were ambushed by skilled shinobi, all of them missing nin. Hinata had no idea what they wanted with two Konoha shinobi, but she didn't have time to ask them as they launched a full scale attack. Having seen them ahead of time, Hinata had prepared Naruto and they had put up a good fight but in the end they had gotten a hold of the young Hyuuga and threatened her life before Naruto, who could never see harm done to a friend.

After Naruto had thrown down his weapons three men jumped on him and beat him to the ground mercilessly. It was horrible.

The young kunoichi had managed to get free and killed one of the men but someone else grabbed her from behind and knocked her unconscious.

When she had woken up she found herself tied to this rock, awaiting the tide to come and drown her, with Naruto behind her.

Looking back on it all, Hinata closed her eyes against any more tears that were coming.

"Naruto-kun, I need you to tell my family that I love them and forgive them, I want you to tell Neji-oniisan that I'm proud of him and tell Hanabi that I think she will grow to be a credit to the Hyuuga name. Please tell Shino-kun and Kiba-kun and Kurenai-san that I love them too and that I wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for them, I owe them everything. And I need to tell you-

"_Stop it!_"

Hinata stopped, her eyes wide and her mouth open, her tears, for the moment, shocked back.

"I'm not going to be giving any goodbye speeches _to_ anyone _for_ anyone, _got it?"_

The young woman nodded and then realised that he couldn't see her and muttered out a soft, "Hai."

His voice becoming softer, regretting having to yell at her, "We'll get out of this Hinata-chan, I know we will, you've just got to keep positive."

"Hai," she murmured again and hung her head down watching the water slowly creep back into the cave.

It was a few moments later when they started to talk again, by this time the cold sea water had reached her hips and was steadily rising every moment.

"What were you going to tell me Hinata-chan?"

"Sorry?"

"When you were so dead set on telling me your goodbye speech, you were going to tell me something."

"Oh," she said, her face turning a deep shade of red, "I was, ano, just, going to tell you how much I always looked up to you and respected you."

She closed her eyes and shook her head in defeat as she heard him exclaim from his side of the rock, "Really? Wow, I never thought anyone respected me, dattebayo."

The young kunoichi couldn't help but to smile and lifted her head again. She could see all the times she had watched him unfold in her head like a movie, "You never gave up Naruto-kun, the moment I first saw you I knew you were special."

"From that long ago?" He asked her, his voice happy and cheerful, "I'm glad you told me, I never knew."

There was silence for a moment longer and Hinata felt the water rise to her stomach and felt her insides cramp against the freezing water. She contemplated whether or not to confess everything to him now. This would be her only chance, and last if things continued the way they were, she should try to let it all out.

"N-N-Naruto-kun," she stuttered, her shyness erupting in the most embarrassing way, as she also tried to stave off the pain from her injuries being filled with salt water, "I-I need to tell you s-something."

"Sure Hinata-chan, just no more goodbye speeches."

"No, not goodbye, ano, uh, I-I," she breathed out and was very aware of the sound of the water lapping at the walls of the cave and how it would drown out any small noises she was making, she would have to say this loudly.

"Naruto-kun, I love you."

"I love you to Hinata."'

She shook her head in frustration, "No Naruto, I _love _you." She paused and breathed softly out, "Ever since the academy."

Nothing could be heard except for the sound of the water and the soft breathing of the two shinobi.

The Hyuuga never expected her feelings to be reciprocated but she was waiting eagerly for any sign that would give away what he was thinking, she was on the verge of taking it back when he spoke up.

"Why? When everyone else hated me, all the adults and their children, why would _you_ love me?"

Hinata knew she was too far in now to pull back and she gathered her last vestiges of courage and spoke her heart. She had lists and lists and backlists to explain all the reasons that she loved him. The way he always got up, the way his hair stuck up, the way his eyes shone with determination, the way he was loyal to a fault, the way he was friendly to everyone, his naiveté, his continual optimism, his voice, his smile. But she didn't have enough time to tell him every reason as she watched the water rise and rise, now resting at her chest.

"Because you're you. There's no one else I could imagine loving."

She heard him breathe out and utter his astonishment.

"Wow."

"You never knew?" She asked, wanting to know and unsure of his answer.

"No, I had no idea," he said his voice full of disappointment at himself, "I never saw it."

Hinata couldn't help but laugh, "But I was so _obvious!_ I think _everyone_ knows."

"Really? No one ever told me, dattebayo."

Naruto shifted in his bonds again, the water weighing them down and making the two shinobi even more uncomfortable as he smiled ruefully at himself as the sound of her laughter echoed around them before leaving completely. The dark haired young woman tried to remain positive and kept talking to the young man behind her.

"Do you think, if we made it, you would, you know, g-go out with me?"

Hinata held her breath and waited for his answer, hoping against hope, for whatever good it would do her now that he would say yes.

"Wow," the blonde shinobi couldn't believe his ears, "the prettiest girl in Konoha is asking me out? If I wasn't beaten and tied to a boulder, waiting for the tide to come I'd say that this was my lucky day."

"You mean you would?"

"Are you serious?" Cried out Naruto, "Hinata," his voice deepened as he left off the honorific, "I'd be the happiest man alive if I got the chance to go out with you."

He whistled loudly and laughed softly before explaining himself, "The first time I saw you I thought you were the cutest thing I'd ever laid eyes on. Sure you were extremely shy, and now I kind of know why, but you had the sweetest smile and the loveliest eyes. When I got to know you and had been on a few missions with you I began to understand the depth of your character. You're sweet, caring, giving, beautiful, intelligent, an awesome ninja, you make the best lunches and, I can't quite believe it but, you love me," Naruto leant his head back and watched the ceiling of the cave for a moment, "and that's more than I could ever expect or hope to dream of."

"But," Hinata hesitated, not wanting to put a stop to the wonderful things he was saying but needing to know, "Sakura?"

"Hinata, you're the Hyuuga heiress! As if I could even _think_ to have a chance with you. I've been an outcast for so many years that when some good looking girl was next to me and giving me attention I took it and ran with it."

"To be honest," he said when he'd taken a moment to breathe, "I'd always wondered what life would be like with you in it."

A smile spread across the Hyuuga's face and it wasn't till the cold from the water made her teeth chatter that it stopped and even then she couldn't completely stop a small grin from staying on her lips.

It was a few more moments before she spoke again, the water steadily rising faster and higher.

"Naruto, I'm getting cold."

"I know, this water is freezing, here," Naruto reached out his hand so that it met hers, ignoring the deep gashes the rope and sea water were creating and burning, "take my hand."

Cutting herself too, Hinata couldn't hold back a wince before grabbing onto his hand with her unbroken hand. They settled back against the rock and waited for the water to rise, it was now lapping at her neck. The heiress was thinking on all her friends and family and how proud they all would be when she told them that she'd finally confessed to Naruto. She hoped that Naruto would survive, when he realised that she was gone he would have to use the Kyuubi's chakra and escape the boulder.

Musing along these lines, Hinata realised that, apart from the being beaten, using up all her chakra and dying, this would probably be the happiest day of her life.

"I'm so glad I finally told you Naruto-kun," she said, lifting her chin so that the water didn't come into her mouth, "You've made me the happiest I've ever been."

"Hinata, when the water comes too high you have to take the biggest breath you've ever taken, you've got to hold on."

Not hearing anything from her, Naruto squeezed her hand. He started to panic when she didn't squeeze back, "Hinata! Answer me! Hinata!"

When she still didn't respond, the blonde shinobi turned, twisted and pulled his body around frantically and managed to turn his torso slightly so that he could faintly see her hair on the other side with his peripheral vision. It wasn't till he saw her wet hair that he realised what was wrong. The floor of the cave was uneven and Hinata was sitting lower than him, meaning that she was already underwater.

"No!" He screamed out, trying to get loose but having no luck.

"This can't be happening"

Naruto could feel himself getting angrier and angrier and could feel himself losing control.

_That's right, _said a voice inside of him, _it's about time you used me, you should have listened to your sweetheart. Use me Naruto, use me and live._

The young man could feel himself being taken over gradually and when the water finally closed over his nose and lapped up to his forehead he started to give in.

Quickly, the blue eyed man took back control and looked up to see what had broken his reverie. Up above him a shadow wavered in the water and an object came hurtling towards him. No, not an object, a person. Seeing the tattoos on his face Naruto recognised the person to be that bastard mangy mutt, Kiba.

Thank Kami, help was finally here.

Shaking his head and looking to his eyes to the other side of the rock Naruto tried to convey to the Inuzaka that Hinata should be taken first but Kiba didn't understand him and cut the ropes around him before pulling him to the surface.

Gasping and taking in a lungful of air, Naruto burst to the surface and looked back at Kiba who was grinning at him. Not even having the time to throw a curse word at him, Naruto shot him a death glare before diving back down to the boulder.

He spotted Hinata quickly, pulled her into his arms and pushed himself off the bottom of the cave and passed her to a surprised and worried Kiba who quickly jumped up through the hole that he come through to find them and put her on the ground before giving Naruto a hand up and pulling him away from danger where Akamaru waited.

The young Inuzaka dropped down next to Hinata and called her name, trying to get a response but Naruto dragged himself to his feet and pushed the young man out of the way so he could begin CPR on her. The whole time that he was pushing on her chest and breathing into her lungs, trying to be mindful of her injuries, he was talking to her. Telling her all the wonderful things that they were going to do, see and buy together. He told her that she'd always been this weird, untouchable piece of purity in his life and that he would do anything, give anything, to have her in his life permanently.

All the while that Naruto talked, Kiba sat back on his haunches and held onto Akamaru's fur in surprise, staring at the two. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Suddenly all thoughts were pushed from both man's minds when Hinata coughed and a stream of water came out of her mouth. Turning her on her side, Naruto rubbed her back, trying to make her feel better and trying to keep the tears from running down his face.

Sitting up, Hinata moaned and clutched a hand to her chest, "Sorry," Naruto quickly apologised, "I know your ribs are broken but I didn't much like the alternative."

"That's ok Naruto-kun, thank you."

The Inuzaka smiled and would have gone over to her when Naruto did something no one expected.

As Hinata was smoothing back her hair from her face, the young shinobi leant over to her and whispered in her ear, "Don't ever scare me like that again, you're much too precious to me."

And then he kissed her, softly, on the lips.

Hinata promptly fainted.

"Well," said Naruto, roughing the back of his hair with his hand in embarrassment before collapsing from all the stress and pain that he was in, "she's going to have to get over _that_."

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**A/N: *sigh* so this fic is finally off my back. I'm so sorry it took so long but I just think that Naruhina is above and beyond me for some reason. I can't write it! I think that this will be last port of call for this pairing. It's been a blast.**

**Anyway, next up, due to popular demand, is Itachi x Hinata. Hopefully it won't take as long....*crosses fingers* in the meantime, kick back, relax and tell me who else you want next and, by all means, read my other stories and review, regard and remark upon them. I remain, always,**

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


	6. Endings

**Siderite**

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**Summary: One shot series. Each chapter will have a new pairing and stands independantly, hence the 'complete' status of this. Each chapter will have independant ratings as well, you'll find them next to the pairing. **

**Disclaimer: No, *sigh* Naruto is not mine. You'd think that by now that fact wouldn't depress me but it does. *sigh***

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**Endings**

**Itachi x Hinata (T)**

"Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous."  
– _Frankenstein, _Mary Shelley

"Damn," hissed an annoyed kunoichi to herself as she jumped from branch to branch through the unfamiliar forest, "I've lost him."

Deactivating her Byuukagan, the Hyuuga stopped flying through the forest and jumped down to the ground trying to get her bearings. Looking around, thinking she saw a glint of red in front of her before blinking it away – shrugging it as an effect from landing too quickly, she realised that she was unable to identify where she was.

She was completely and utterly lost.

She'd been heading off at break neck speed to try and apprehend the thief in front of her but he had made it out of her considerable range of sight and she'd lost him. Unfortunately she hadn't taken any time to become aware of her surroundings, not even thinking to mark the trees with her kunai as she raced along.

Shaking her head in self-recrimination, the dark haired young woman glanced around, trying to spot some kind of landmark. Seeing nothing of use, she jumped back up into a tree and scouted the area. Unfortunately there was nothing to see but the never ending horizon of trees.

'Damn', she swore again, jumping back down after seeing a lake further north where she could refill her canteen. Things did not look good.

The dark haired woman was on a small scale mission with her team to escort a man to Grass Country. The mission had been a success and the three shinobi were on their way back home when the vendor they had just bought dango from had been robbed and they had seen the guilty party tearing away into the unfamiliar forest with the vendor shaking his fists in anger.

Hinata hadn't even thought to confer with her teammates before she had dropped her food and started to run after him.

And this is where she had ended up.

What made this situation even more exasperating was that she knew she had to get back to Konoha quickly as she was expected to go on another mission with Kakashi's team, her own team and Yamato. They had a trail on Uchiha Sasuke and team eight had been given the word from their Hokage to come back as soon as possible as no one else was available or as close as they were.

Finally reaching the lake that she had spotted from above the tree line, the young Hyuuga bent down at the water's edge and scooped a small amount of water in her hand to sample before filling her canteen with it.

Tasting the water she was surprised to note that the liquid was the cleanest she'd ever tasted, pleased with her good luck at finding it she twisted off the cap of her bottle and filled it with water, humming to herself as she did it.

"It's good water isn't it?"

Reacting violently, the kunoichi grabbed a kunai from her pouch and crouched down in the customary shinobi pose eyes wide, searching for the person who had spoken.

Not wanting to lower her pose or drop her kunai, the woman wasn't able to activate her Byuukagan enabling her to sense any chakra. Instead she slowly turned a full revolution, hunting for the smallest oddity in the clearing until she finally spotted a figure in the depths of the lake. It was most definitely a man, she could tell that much, but he was half hidden behind a smallish rock right at the other end of the lake with his back to her and his long, dark hair covering the side of the face that would have been discernible to her.

"Who are you?"

Her voice was strained but clear and loud enough for the stranger to hear it.

He didn't answer. Instead he immersed his whole body as he dove under the surface. She could see his body smoothly cut through the water and strove to keep from looking away in embarrassment when she realised that he was naked. She'd never turn her back to a potential enemy not matter how uncomfortable she became.

He was over at the other side of the lake now, a bit closer to her though the shade was darker so that when he turned and faced her full on she could not see his features, the trees acting as a visible curtain.

"I'm just a man, enjoying a swim. May I ask who you are?"

His voice was soft but hinted at an underlining of steel. Still wary but unsatisfied with his response, the Hyuuga's tone of voice became almost clipped, "Just a woman getting a drink."

She wasn't sure but she thought she saw him smile.

"And why would a shinobi of the leaf come so far out for a drink?"

Having the presence of mind not to be surprised at this statement, she _was _wearing her hitiate, the Hyuuga sighed and decided on telling this stranger what had happened, not seeing much harm in him knowing the bare truth.

"I'm lost," she admitted, her hand marginally dropped her kunai down while her stance eased up, "I got separated from my friends while chasing a thief but he lost me and I lost my sense of direction."

She saw his head nod barely as if satisfied with her response.

"I saw the man race through here, I was wondering what he was running from."

Becoming more at ease in the presence of this stranger, the dark haired woman lowered herself till she was sitting on the edge of the lake, her kunai beside her well within range for her to grasp. When she'd sat herself she glanced back into the shade where the man still stood, quietly regarding her.

"You feel safe to sit down?"

Instantly tense, the young woman got ready for flight, "Should I not?"

Quick to reassure her, the man waved his hand in the air, "It's just, I heard that kunoichi are always ready for battle so I did not expect you to sit by the lake with me."

The light emphasis on the last two words was not lost to the dark haired Hyuuga though she hid her thoughts from showing too much on her face.

Putting the kunai down beside her again, the Hyuuga took off her shoes and put her feet in the water. Sighing out loud, she watched the ripples on the water around her feet as her body relaxed somewhat and the stress of the last few hours fled from her body. She might be able to get some kind of directions out of this man and if not his company did not seem so bad to keep while she waited for her friends who would have no trouble finding her eventually.

She heard the man inch closer through the water but she did not look up till he spoke again.

"It's been some time since I've been in normal company," he stated, his voice low and melodic, "would you mind talking to me a bit, maybe telling me a bit about your life?"

So she did.

She started off by telling him that she was part of an old clan in Konoha, since he most probably knew that much anyway, and then she began to talk about her friends and the people that were close to her.

He interspersed his comments into her commentary whenever he felt inclined as he inched his way closer to her but always kept himself hidden within the shade, asking questions about Naruto and his fight to save his friend.

"So he has not given up on him even after all these years?"

"No," Hinata shook her head while a fond smile graced her face, "and he never will."

"That's good," the man said, his eyes closing for a bit and a smile gathering at the corners of his mouth, "I'm glad."

"I am too," smiled the kunoichi, "he needs someone to believe in him."

The man opened his eyes and regarded the woman now not seven feet in front of him.

"I think I might get out," the dark haired man told the Hyuuga pointing to a pile of clothes behind her that she hadn't noticed before, "Could you hand me those please?"

Standing to get the clothes she wasn't prepared when the edge of the ground broke away underneath her feet.

Trying to get her balance she flipped backwards just shy of falling in and managed to save herself from landing in the lake fully clothed. Standing up she turned around and pressed a hand to her mouth to try and stop the loud giggles that were coming from her at the sight that greeted her.

The man was covered in mud and earth. The brown substance was splayed over his naked chest, face and hair. His eyes were closed and his face was very tight. A muscle twitched near his mouth - she wasn't sure if it was him keeping in laughter or if he was very angry -as a piece of earth slid down from the crown of his head to the water that came to his hips.

She would usually apologise profusely for what had happened but she knew that if she took her hand away from her mouth she would laugh and that was not an option. She realised that when she had flipped herself over to stop herself falling, her feet had flung out and sprayed the watery edge all over the stranger in front of her.

Finally getting control of herself, Hinata bowed quickly and came to the edge again with his clothes while he raised his hand to his eyes to smear the mud away so he could look at the woman who had caused him such indignity.

He watched her as her hair dipped over and covered her face before she swiped it back behind her ear as she stifled another, "You know," his voice was still unemotional, "I've killed for less."

Unsure of wether he was joking or not, the young woman simply stared at him till he cracked a small smile. Following suit, the girl relaxed and sat by the edge again, all thoughts of leaving far behind her as she pointed to his clothes, "well you should clean up before I give these to you."

She watched as he gave another small smile before he slid his whole body underneath the water and tried not to stare too much as his hands cleaned off the mud off of his naked body. Rising back to the surface she saw that he still had a piece of mud in his long unfettered hair.

Pointing to her own head she signalled to him that it was there but after several attempts of removal, the piece of earth remained firmly engrained in his dark strands.

Without much thought, Hinata moved closer and went to remove the clump herself when his hand snatched her wrist and nearly broke it with the force he used on her. His eyes glinted and for a second it had seemed as if the lake and the background around them had shimmered. Frightened, she tried to tug back on her wrist but he kept it still till he seemed to get a hold of himself and let her go.

Gasping and nursing her wrist to her chest, her eyes looked at him in shock. "I w-was j-just trying to h-help you," she stuttered, her voice small and reminiscent of her childhood.

He sighed and looked away from her before turning his back, "I don't like people touching me. Human contact seems," he breathed here and looked back over his shoulder to meet her gaze, "wrong."

The Hyuuga, still a little scared and more than a little wary simply nodded to him, understanding what he was saying in some small way.

He turned back to her and moved forwards through the water but stopped when she shied back from him. Moving his eyes from her hand to her eyes he spoke up again, his voice never actually monotone but never showing emotion, "Will you remove this piece of dirt from my hair, Hyuuga-san?"

Moving her wrist from her chest, she rolled it slowly to see if there was any damage before flexing her fingers. Happy with the fact that it would only bruise, she sat up and came to the edge again. She saw him smile slightly at the fact that she had never loosened her grip on her kunai with her uninjured hand and she placed it back down on the ground from where she picked it up when he had grabbed her.

Coming closer he put both hands on either side of her and tilted his head forward so that she could see over his head and untangle the clump from his hair. In this position his shoulders were tensed and his face seemed rigid from what she could see of it through his hair and she had a brief understanding of why that was so. In this position, he was vulnerable.

Having the grace to take this for the apology it was and the subtlety not to mention it she quickly removed the offending object and threw it into the water.

When her hands fell to her side and she proclaimed that the dirt was out of his hair, the man quickly turned his back, his hair covering his face. He seemed to take a few deep breaths before standing to his full height in the water. The man pulled his hair to his nape and tied it back before turning back around and looking at her. He waited for the expected reaction with a watchful eye.

He did not have to wait long.

Gasping, Hinata backed away from him as quickly as she could.

Now that the man had come away from the shadows of the trees and the reflection of the water was not mirrored on his flesh, and now that his hair was not obscuring his face or mud covering him, the kunoichi knew who exactly who this stranger was.

Though not acquainted with him personally she had read the bingo book and was aware of her village's history. Being a shinobi of Konoha she was informed of all missing nin and was knowledgeable of the Akatsuki – the most recent, terrifying and deadliest group of people she'd ever heard of.

And here stood one in front of her, one from her own village.

Uchiha Itachi.

And she was alone.

Next to the stats and the picture of the missing nin it always listed the best way to capture, kill or survive their attacks if one came upon this person. Next to Uchiha Itachi's name it had read: never look into his eyes; retreat as quickly as possible.

The man, no longer a stranger but every bit a threat to her life, came closer to her, rising from the water and lifting himself to stand on the solid ground.

His eyes swept over her rigid form and she watched as his small smile disappeared into a grim firm line. His eyes faded, even though she had not been aware that they were alight to begin with, and his back had straightened. For some reason he was clothed and no longer wet, his black and red Akatsuki cloak wrapped around him and his marked hitiate around his forehead.

She never took her eyes off of him but she saw in her peripheral vision that the lake behind him was gone and the area they were in was nothing but blackness.

He sighed and dropped his shoulders lightly again before reaching out for her hand, "Hinata," he began, knowing her name before he had even brought her here, "I do not intend to hurt you."

For some reason unknown to her, she believed him but was still battle ready even as she took his hand and rose from the ground.

"Thank you for talking to me," he let go of her hand and stepped away from her, "I've not had the privilege of freely talking with another in a very, _very_ long time and this," he breathed and his expression could be described as nothing but reflective – _never_ regretful, "will be the last."

He then smiled sadly at her and left, his body tearing apart and turning into crows.

She came down from her tiptoes, hardly realising that she had risen to be closer to him and briefly fluttered her fingers over her lips in comprehension. It was a goodbye, a consolation and a reveal.

As she gathered herself together and looked around, not at all surprised to see herself standing by the tree where she had first dropped down from after the chase, the sun unmoved by an inch, she started off for the lake again.

She was surprised to see that it resembled nothing like the one where Itachi had sent her but shrugged it off and filled her canteen, suddenly very thirsty.

And as she sat by the lake, waiting for her team to find her – they were the best trackers of their age, remembering all that had happened and trying to figure out if he'd let anything inadvertently slip she remembered the look on his face and things they had talked about. She realised that whatever had made him into the man he was, it was something that she wished never to experience. In the moment when she had seen his eyes fade and his smile thin out in defeat when she had reacted to his identity she knew that she had seen something special and something that not many people had experienced before her and would ever likely experience again.

Something irrevocable and impossibly good.

And she knew no one would ever believe her.

* * *

**A/N: So this is my first Itachi. I didn't want him to be sorry for anything or regretful for anything he will do or has done. He doesn't like to touch other people and usual Itachi things like that. I hope I did him justice and if not, I'll do better next time. **

**Hinata was his last piece of well...peace and I wanted to portray that. Again, I hope I did!**

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


	7. Change

**Siderite**

* * *

**Summary: One shot series. Each chapter will have a new pairing and stands independantly, hence the 'complete' status of this. Each chapter will have independant ratings as well, you'll find them next to the pairing. **

**Disclaimer: No, *sigh* Naruto is not mine. You'd think that by now that fact wouldn't depress me but it does. *sigh***

**

* * *

****Change**

**Hiashi x Hinata (T)**

"At first he couldn't even get up. He lay there under a heavy weight. But then only movement could save him, and he moved and he moved and he moved, no movement being enough to make up for it. The guilt on him, the hand of God pressing down on him, saying, _You were not there when your daughter needed you."  
– The Lovely Bones, _Alice Sebold

He paces up and down in his own bedroom, away from the prying eyes, and feels the pain of the weight of his conscience push him down again. To walk is to forget for a time. To move is an escape.

So here he is in front of his bed, hands clasped behind his back, head down, as he tries to drive out the words and actions of a time since passed and regrettable. But still they come and still they make his heart harden all the more against the one who would make him feel so useless.

Banging his fist against the wall in a manner so unlike him, he curses the night sky because of the inaction it gives him and the memories that take him back no matter how much he wishes against it, no matter how much he wishes it happened differently.

She was much younger than she is now and Hiashi remembers the way she used to greet him and look at him with such unadulterated joy at his arrival, smiling in an uncontrived manner that it made his heart swell for love for his little girl.

As much as he tried to block it out the morning of that horrible night came back afresh to him.

He had arrived back at the Hyuuga compound. He'd just come from a long journey conferring with friends and family that were still under his jurisdiction but away from the Konoha gates, the duty of his responsibilities still somewhat fresh on his shoulders from his father's rule. The farms and outlying areas that he had visited were surprised by his unannounced visit, grateful for the news he brought with him and impressed by his judicial rulings over all matters. He seemed a very wise and compassionate man, one who saw both sides of the argument and who seemed to be breaking down the barrier between the branch and main house with each breath.

He was a good man.

The future was looking bright for the Hyuuga family but sometimes, rarely, people change and do things they never would have thought they could have done before or felt before.

Many of the main house were not too pleased with the direction their new leader was heading when he came back from his journey and assumed that his emotions were biased by having his twin brother being a branch family member. They didn't have the chance to voice their objections when he came back though, for Hiashi was so tired from his voyage that he needed sleep straight away.

Walking through the large compound Hyuuga Hiashi couldn't help but think on the division between his family. The day he had used the cursed seal against his brother had been a horrible moment for him and at the time he had felt nothing but the need to protect his daughter but afterwards had agonised over whether or not to apologise for the action. The fact that such a punishment even existed was completely outrageous in this day and age. The time for change needed to happen with him and hopefully, if he taught his daughter well, his heir would continue his work and his plans to unite the Hyuuga name would be become reality.

On his way to his bedroom he was interrupted by a charming scene. Stopping on the porch partially hidden behind a post Hyuuga Hiashi watched his daughter, his heir, pick flowers from the main garden's prized flower beds. Feeling the fatigue and tension of the last few weeks flow away from him at the sight, he began to smile softly as the tiny heiress carefully and reverently pulled a couple of specially chosen flowers from the soil. Her small fingers, grubby from the damp earth, tenderly laid a freshly plucked orange lily down on the ground by her side after she had brushed the soil from the roots. Her dress had been hitched up past her knees, the blue and white sun dress still untouched by the dirt, the hat the little girl wore was straw with a big yellow fabric-made sunflower tucked into the band and her face, which was scrunched up with concentration as she extricated another flower from the ground, was soon replaced by a completely unchecked expression of delight at having unspoilt the beautiful red gardenia.

At this moment in time there was nothing better to Hiashi than this.

Out of the corner of his eye he watched as an attendant ran up to his daughter with a harried and hot expression on her face as if the servant had been looking all over for the little girl.

"Hinata-sama!" half-screamed the woman, her voice cutting through Hinata as she flinched with each word, "You cannot just walk off and do whatever you please! Now get up and come with me!"

In the servant's evident distress and anger she had walked right up to Hinata and had stomped all over his little girl's flowers. When he watched the servant drag her by the arm-harshly and with no attempt to settle her-to the nearest baths, he stood behind the post, still the silent voyeur, as his Hinata stretched out her hand at the flowers and tried to pull back on the arm of the woman dragging her away while tears ran down her cheeks.

"But," he heard her try to say through her tears to the servant, "they were for Daddy."

Upset but unsure what to do Hiashi slowly moved, when he was sure both servant and daughter were gone, to where the flowers were and picked them up taking them back to his room, if he was quick, maybe placing between the pages of his journal would keep them. Hopefully pressing them, though he was no expert on the practice, would keep the lovely shape and colour of the two flowers better than a vase and water.

The feelings of being tired and worn out came back to him again once he had entered his room. He decided to stay and leave the usual greetings that he had with his daughter for the next day, after he had had a nice rest. He'd also talk with that servant and fire her if it was not the first time that she had talked so to the Hyuuga heiress.

Everything would be better on the next day.

* * *

It wasn't a scream that woke him, no shouts of alarm nor the movement of something happening in his room - it was the distinct _lack_ of something. Something had gone, like a limb being severed but the pain not immediately apparent.

He was instantly alert.

Moving from his bed he quickly donned his yukata before running out of his room. Smoothing his hair down, he made an effort to compose himself as he briskly walked down the main corridor of the wing where his family slept. Hearing a soft noise to his right he stopped abruptly and quickly activated his bloodline limit, uncaring of the consequences of doing so within the compound outside of practice, and saw a man carrying a small bundle over his shoulder. It was Hinata's bedroom.

Anger clouded his vision for a moment as he tore the door open showing him a shinobi about to climb out of the window. Upon hearing the noise behind him, the masked intruder turned back to face the incensed Hyuuga Hiashi. The man's mask had slid a touch to the side and the Hyuuga leader could see a bruise forming on the man's cheekbone.

The bag was unmoving and though Hiashi could tell through his Byuukagan that his daughter was alive a dreadful cold settled over his body. He should have been here, if he had seen her, maybe talked to her before she went to sleep he might have been here for his little girl. Hiashi was distracted by the vision of his little girl crying out for the flowers for her daddy and then her crying out for him while a man came in through the window, taking her from her bed.

_He should have been here!_

In the moment that Hiashi let his emotions control him the shinobi leapt through the window and started to run away.

_Damn it._ He'd let his emotions get the best of him. He couldn't afford to get lost in feelings of guilt, right now he needed to get to his daughter before the man got to the trees. As soon as he reached the forest his momentum would carry him too far out of reach.

Jumping out of the window Hiashi ran without grace and stumbled for a moment crying out for his daughter in a ragged voice, trying to get the attention of any Hyuuga inside the compound so they could help him.

"_Hinata!"_

Finally catching up to the man, Hiashi dove in desperation at his legs, knocking him down and watched helplessly as the bag which held his daughter was brought to the ground with a thud too far away to reach. The two men landed in a jumble of legs and fists and Hiashi lay under the intruder before he realised what was happening. Unable to fight effectively from beneath his enemy the Hyuuga kneed his opponent in the groin and separated from the shinobi, placing himself in a defensive stance, his arms forward and his palms facing the man as he breathed heavily.

Hiashi knew that emotion was not going to serve him well, he'd already lost several opportunities to effectively kill or at least wound his enemy because he'd been so blinded by rage and a fervent longing to protect and save his daughter. Cursing himself for putting his daughter in even more danger by his rash actions he actively put aside all feelings he had and concentrated on the task at hand.

The two opponents faced each other, Hiashi centring himself, pushing all of his emotions out of his mind and the man in front of him shifting imperceptibly into an offensive posture.

After a moment the kidnapper flung himself into the air, bringing his right leg out in front of him to land on top of Hiashi. Stealing himself for a move such as this, Hyuuga Hiashi moved an inch out of the way and found an opening to the man's chest. In one deadly move the pale eyed Hyuuga lunged forward, elbow unbending pushing all five digits in a circle around the area of the man's heart.

The masked nin stopped his movements immediately as his feet touched the ground and looked at his chest with the Hyuuga's digits pressed lightly into his skin. His eyes travelled up Hiashi's arm, stopping only when he reached the deadly intent in his eyes. He was looking into the Hyuuga's face, his mouth curled into a snarl.

"One touch," he whispered.

Flexing his fingers before twisting his wrist around in a savage move, Hiashi watched dispassionately as the man choked on the blood that spouted from his mouth. When the Hyuuga took his fingers away and stood up straight the man fell to his knees, dead almost instantly, before the Hyuuga clan leader before falling onto his face, the blood still leaking from his mouth and nose.

The pale eyed man turned, uncaring of the body that was rapidly cooling beside him, towards the sack that lay untouched by the fight. The rope around the opening was untied and through the darkness Hiashi could see two large white eyes staring back at him.

"Can you walk?"

Hiashi's voice caught him by surprise and he went to say something else, more caring, but was stopped by the movement in front of him.

The small girl crawled out of the sack and sat on her knees before her father, her skin dirty and bloody from a few small cuts from the fighting she had done against the intruder, the bruise on the man's face coming back to Hiashi's memory.

His daughter looked up slowly, her hair falling away from her face, her hands shaking slightly in front of her.

"D-da-daddy?"

The cracked, small voice upset the Hyuuga and he bent down to Hinata, unwittingly giving her the hand that had killed the man behind him. Hinata flinched and shut her eyes tightly against the coming blow that she was sure he was going to give her. She tried to apologise, her eyes still shut and her face turned away.

"I-I'm s-so-sorry f-for-"

"Stop stuttering!"

Silence stretched out as Hiashi felt his anger, which had bubbled inside him at the rejection of his help after he had just saved her, cool down and felt his muscles relax. Before he could wonder at her stuttering, which had never happened before, or comfort his little daughter and make sure she was alright he went back to the emotionless state that he had forced himself into during the fight and turned his back to his little girl for a moment to get a hold of himself.

"Come on, let's go home"

He heard her stand up and walk to his side but he couldn't look at her right now in case his resolve broke. He felt so awkward, he wanted to apologise for yelling at her and he wanted to pick her up and hug her to make sure she was safe but she was scared of him, for the first time in his life and he had no way of knowing what to do.

He started walking back to the compound with his little girl following just behind him.

Unable to keep up the cold facade on for too much longer Hiashi left his daughter in her room and ordered her to stay there shouting something unbelievably stupid, along the lines of how she should have fought them off, should have done better, when in actual fact it was he that should have done better. He should have known the moment she was gone. Instead of consoling his daughter he kept her there, in her room, getting angry with himself for letting her stifled sobs reach his throat, tighten their hold and choke him on his own failings.

He needed to keep his cool, everyone was in an uproar as the cries of their leader had alerted the entire area to the fact that the heiress had been kidnapped. Consoling and placating the elders was the first thing that he had to do and then on to the guards to alert them to the fact that the heiress was fine. All throughout this his cold facade was kept firmly in place, the people that came across their leader were confused and concerned with the obvious difference in him.

The next few days were not any easier on the Hyuuga's and their leader. With the loss of his twin brother, the other half of himself, each day had been agony and the only reprieve he had from the weight of his decisions came from that other place in his mind where nothing mattered, where no one was of any particular importance except the main branch of the Hyuuga. Hinata bore the brunt of this change in her usual loving father. He was unable to watch her with the quiet love that he did before and found himself making excuses to not be where she was.

The days eventually turned to weeks and the weeks to months and the months to years till he didn't remember how to come back to where he was and her father's apparent disregard and unloving attitude towards her became the norm and the memory of picking flowers for her Daddy was but a faint image that she must have read in a book.

So she grew up without the love of a daddy and he aged always regretting the day when he had become a disappointment as a father and as a brother, the guilt always pushing him back to a place where he didn't hurt. He knew that it wasn't the night that she was taken that had cemented his failure but his actions after it.

Looking back now, still in front of his bed pacing - because the action took away some of the pain of regrets - he tries to smother the emotions that threaten to take hold again.

He had been so keen to be such a wise leader but instead had failed that which was closest to him. Hinata, his heir, his daughter, his little girl.

Sitting down at his desk he opened the pages of his journal to write his thoughts, maybe to make sense of them and to finally set some things straight. He knew that people don't change quickly but sometimes, rarely, they _do _change and all he needed to do was to go back to who he was.

"_Daddy!"_

Hiashi looked up, startled, seeing through a haze, his little daughter standing at his open bedroom door with a beautiful, big smile and flowers in her hand.

"_These are for you!"_

She giggled as he stood up and took them for her, spinning her around in the air, her blue and white sundress flying out and she flung out her arms in delight.

"_I love you, Daddy..."_

The orange lily and red gardenia bled slightly on the pages as the leader of the Hyuuga clan slept at his desk, mumbling in his sleep.

"I love you too, Hinata."

* * *

**A/N: Oh my God! I am so sorry for the long wait! I don't even really have a good excuse I've just been really busy with all sorts of things. I'm working on all kinds of things as well so hopefully this will get me jump started back into the game**.

**Again, apologies, please feel free to tell me what a bad person I am for not writing sooner!**

**I remain, still,**

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


	8. Marigold

**Siderite  
**

* * *

**Summary: One shot series. Each chapter will have a new pairing and stands independantly, hence the 'complete' status of this. Each chapter will have independant ratings as well, you'll find them next to the pairing. **

**Disclaimer: No, *sigh* Naruto is not mine. You'd think that by now that fact wouldn't depress me but it does. *sigh***

**A/N: I am a horrible, horrible person. I'm just going to give up and not even give you an excuse because there is none good enough for my protracted leave of absence. I'm also sorry because this isn't my piece of writing. My lovely fanfiction wife _Emerald707 _wrote me this fic because she lost a bet about...3 years ago. Wow...slack hime, slack...  
**

**This has gotten my muse going though and I am writing her a fic because I lost a separate bet to her. Then I'm writing an Ibiki/Hinata fic because, why not?  
**

**Anyway, on with the story!  
**

* * *

**Marigold**

**Zetsu x Hinata (T)**

"_And he spread his arms wide to receive the angel storming down upon him. He already could feel the thrust of the dagger or sword tickling so wonderfully against his breast..." _

– _Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, _Patrick Suskind_._

The day draws long.

It is times like these, when there is only him, the cool late afternoon breeze on his skin and the quiet of his own thoughts, that he may feel, at last, at peace.

Konoha has always been one of his favourites. Fewer people, less security, so many places to hide. So much green. The fact that the Akatsuki found it to be of particular interest to their future goals certainly didn't hurt his willingness to play 'guard' on missions such as these. Sitting on the borders of the Leaf village, casting his chakra far and wide for any sign of hostility, and simply waiting certainly isn't the worst job the Akatsuki have ever had him do.

Head enclosed in the dark, warm mouth of his plant-like shoulder growths, soft grass beneath him, the quiet of the trees all around, Zetsu can almost imagine himself at home.

It is the sudden shuffle of dry leaves, soft enough to be a mouse, sounding somewhere to Zetsu's right, that pulls him sharply from his thoughts. Peering through the teeth of the trap-like case around his head, his gaze scours the surrounding trees. A tense silence follows, and finding nothing, no single sound, he shuts the world out once more.

Several deeps breaths draw him deep into photosynthesis again, all thoughts of the world drifting steadily away, until the sharp snapping of a twig fills the air, directly in front of him.

He tries to ignore it. No insect, no bird, no stray cat is going to ruin his one moment, the only brief reprise from duty he is allowed. He pretends, does not move or make a sound, but can not help the way his body tenses, his teeth grit, as he feels the intruder move around him – as though searching for some recognisable feature, for the man beneath the plant.

When something small and soft brushes against the fabric of his heavy cloak, Zetsu has had just enough, and snaps the jaws of his protective casing wide open, poised to devour whatever foul creature dared disturb him so – and instead finds himself faced with a very small girl.

Snarl retracting, Zetsu stares at the tiny figure. Two bright lavender eyes peer back at him, awed and curious, but not afraid. A bright summer kimono is tied around her diminutive frame, ornate and laced in gold. Her hair, which must be quite long and midnight black, is plaited and arranged about the heart-shaped face - not by her, Zetsu is certain, but gentle, caring hands. A single flower, the colour of the sun, is folded behind her ear.

Zetsu knows instantly that she is a Hyuuga. An important one, likely, given the care for her appearance – though not much loved, perhaps, if she is allowed to wander so far. She gazes as keenly back at him as he does to her, a mutual discovery – and then, decidedly, she smiles, and plants herself down in front of him.

Zetsu watches wordlessly as she mimics his posture, stubby legs folding beneath her with some effort, hands placed carefully on her rounded knees, then beams at him as though pleased with herself. She can not be more than two years old.

It occurs to Zetsu to eat her anyway, but instead, after a thoughtful pause, he moves himself closer, slowly lowering his face to level with the child's, carefully smelling and assessing her.

In response, she both blushes and, with clear determination, gives him a loud and exaggerated sniff in return.

He decides at once that she is delightful.

The corners of his mouth curl upwards briefly, and he leans back once again. She copies him, straightening her posture and setting her face in an expression which, he supposes, is meant to match his own, though it looks more like she is suffering from some form of bowel problem.

Slowly, naturally, he returns to his meditation; feeding on the sunlight that filters through the leaves overhead and listening to the gentle quiet of the woods, though he does not close the protective plant growth about his head, or resist the urge to glance at the girl every now and then. Once or twice, he catches her peeking at him in return, only to squeeze her eyes shut again.

If the girl minds the silence, she does not show it, seemingly content to merely keep him company. He wonders, unintentionally, if she knows what kind of man he is, that there are shinobi like him in the world, or that there are lands beyond these woods, like the one he comes from, where peace and safety are hard to come by.

Someone must be looking for her. Were they worried? No doubt they would be, if they knew the company she was keeping. Did they care about her? Not enough, it seemed, to keep a watchful eye.

If she were his responsibility, he would do better, he thought. Never let her out of his sight, one so small and so fragile. In fact, if she were his, he would keep her far away – far enough that no one would ever be able to harm her.

He could take her with him. Not to the Akatsuki, no - to them, she would be nothing but a ransom. He would hide her away, then, in some distant place that only he knew. He would visit her every day, and bring her only the best; his greatest kills, treasures from far away nations. Whatever she wanted. She would be happy, far happier, with him.

Of course, when at last she feels his gaze upon her, and opens her eyes, and smiles, he knows she will never be his.

Beautiful things don't survive hidden away in the darkness.

When he feels the familiar tug of his chakra, the signal that all is done and his mission is completed, it is time to go. Distantly, he can hear a woman's voice calling for the girl.

He stands, and instantly she knows. A frown mars her delicate features, and tears rise to her eyes. It is all that Zetsu can do not to snatch her up right there. But the voice sounds distressed as it calls her name, and the tugging is insistent.

He turns from her, and feels his cloak catch. Peering down over his shoulder, he sees two chubby little fists clenched in the black folds, and feels barely a pull as she uses it to haul herself to her feet. When her eyes meet his again, she is holding something in her hand, offering it up to him. It is the flower, the one from her hair.

He hesitates, thinks long, before slowly lowering his hand, and accepting the gift. The only one he has ever been given.

He holds the flower carefully, delicately in roughened ivory fingers. She smiles again, and yanks on the sleeve of his arm. On instinct, he lowers himself to crouch before her – and quick as a flash, cheeks burning pink, she plants a sloppy kiss on his black cheek.

He is so stunned that he hardly feels the angry tugging of his chakra, hardly hears the woman's desperate calls, hardly sees the rush of the leaves as the girl turns and flees, back to her home.

It takes him a good deal longer than it should to turn again, tuck the flower safely into his cloak, and walk away.

* * *

The night draws long.

She has been pursuing him for what seems like hours, but has been mere minutes since she lost sight of her squad, taken out by traps that detonated too quickly for her to detect, lazily thrown kunai that too easily found their targets, and simple exhaustion from the hunt.

The speed and endurance of her opponent alone is frightening, only barely traceable by her Byakugan, but it is his power that she dreads. He is Akatsuki, the red cloud floating behind him in the wind, a sinister promise of the secret horrors he may conjure – and when at last this chase comes to a stop, she will stand alone against him.

He is finally slowing, the ceaseless vigour with which he bounded through the trees ultimately giving way, and far ahead she can see him come to a stop, deep in the woods that border Konoha.

His cloak billows around him, the shallow clearing providing little enough of the moonlight to see him by, but Hinata sees. The jagged, monstrous appendages that flank his head, the split of black and white skin, the heavy, ominous chakra that surrounds the disfigured man.

She lands a good distance behind him, but he does not falter – swinging and lunging for her, arms extending unnaturally, impossibly far – and she has only just the strength, the dexterity to raise her kunai in time to clash with his, to land a carefully placed jab in time for the strike of his kick.

The back and forth of their assault drains what little fortitude Hinata had been saving, sweat beads on her brow, but she pushes herself to dodge the sweeping thrust of his arm, to land the next devastating blow at his heart - and when at last they leap apart, she is bleeding and damaged, but for the first time, she sees that he is too.

Hunched over himself, his one black hand clenching the dark strain on his abdomen, face beaten and scratched, it seems that his flight from the underground cells of the Leaf village have not left him unscathed. He is considerably hurt, in fact – bleeding at too steady a rate, breath coming too quick, and as her eyes lower to penetrate his chest, she sees his heart is struggling under the strain of his injuries and her attack.

It is startling to know that she is moved to compassion for this man.

But even that is nothing compared to the expression that crosses his face when at last he looks up, and his yellow eyes lock onto hers.

Something in his face, in the way he looks at her then, stills her. His eyes are wide, his mouth is slack, and there is something conflicted in the way he can't quite bring himself to look away from her, or her from him. She is poised to strike, but finds she cannot move under the weight of his gaze. The distant familiarity of it. The softness in his eyes.

Where has she seen him before?

The faraway beating of feet on wood draws her attention sharply to the woods behind them, and she knows her back-up has arrived. Fleets of the best shinobi the village has to offer, vying for the chance to take down a member of the Akatsuki, hungry for his blood. It will be moments until they are upon them.

For no reason that Hinata can name, she feels fear.

It is a split-second decision, driven by foolish mercy, and not the hard logic of a shinobi which sends her across the distance of the clearing to him, which moves her hand to grasp his arm, and pulls them both to the safety of a large hollowed oak tree, the last secret refuge of Konoha shinobi looking to escape pursuit.

Yanking open the hidden door, Hinata shoves both herself and the Akatsuki inside, closing it firmly behind them. Outside, the arrival of the others can be heard, their voices raised in concern, anger and confusion.

The man's eyes are fixed on her face, and Hinata cannot help the flush that rises to her cheeks. There is not enough room to manoeuvre, and only now does she realise that in her haste to hide them, she has pressed herself close, chest to chest with the man that she herself had been hunting not long ago.

He stares at her unabashedly. Her eyes flicker to his and quickly away again as she waits out the minutes of searching. The layer of wood between them and the Konoha shinobi cannot be breached, even by her keen eyes, and soon enough, their pursuers move on.

They listen carefully to the steady departure of footsteps leaping through the trees, until they are absolutely certain that they are alone. A heavy silence passes between them, and finally, Hinata forces herself to meet his gaze. There are things she would ask, and say, if she were bolder. Instead, she turns, as much as she can, and opens the latch to the door.

Peering around the corner of the opening, she slowly emerges into the forest, the presence of the man close behind her. Out in the open, she can see the trail that the others have left behind, and knows she will have to follow them. She doesn't know what she will say, how on earth she will explain her disappearance, the escape of the Akatsuki.

Suddenly, there is a light pressure on her shoulder - and when she whips around, yellow consumes her vision. She takes a step back, momentarily alarmed, before she realises it is a flower. A large, golden flower, perfectly in bloom.

Held aloft in the man's ebony fingers, it dawns on her that he is offering her something – something that might potential be dangerous, almost certainly a trap. But his expression is so sincere, so unassuming, that she can hardly resist committing her second deadly lapse in judgement for the night – and accepts his wordless gift, fingers lightly brushing his.

Quicker than a flash, she feels the pressure of something soft against her cheek, and then he is gone. Heart in her throat, she casts her Byakugan through the trees, but can see no sign of him.

It takes her a great deal longer than it should to catch her breath, place the flower delicately in the pocket of her jacket, and move once again.

* * *

**A/N: Again, I'm sorry, and again this lovely, lovely piece of writing is not by me but by _Emerald707_. Her link is on my profile page if you'd like to go and check her stuff out. She is far more prolific writer than I!**

**I'd like to reiterate that I will not give up on any of my fics so don't fret. It just might take a while...  
**

**Yours,  
**

_Jaggarte x (and Emerald707)  
_


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